Snff
by onelildustbunni
Summary: New X-men::Helix::Hellion/X23::Julian Keller / Laura Kinney:: It started with a shirt...
1. olfaction fixation

**Title: **Snff

**Pairing: **Helix

**Universe:** 616 post-Nimrod

**Rating: **M

**A/N: **It started with a t-shirt…another story that involves the sleeping scene! Yay! This idea popped into my head…it has an inspiration  
(based on a real t-shirt of my boyfriend's, he currently lives several states away so he gave me his t-shirt). Definitely nothing _this_ extreme  
for me…but I _do_ love the way he smells, and I suddenly realized if I like the scent, then Laura's reaction would be tenfold. This story is mostly  
about UST, but it's got that good ole new X-men feel to it. Hubba hubba. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 1 : olfaction fixation **  


* * *

Laura perched on the chair, her eyes fixed on the figure under the blanket.

Thirty-nine hours, and counting.

She was trying to understand. There were many things she didn't understand. Such as why Hellion slept naked, with his door unlocked. What if the mansion was attacked?  
An attack had just happened, now would be the optimum moment for a secondary strike, while the X-men were still reeling. He should be prepared—Laura was still in her  
combat gear.

Another thing she was trying to understand was why he had been so desperate to rescue her. He'd significantly exhausted his energy resources by flying her across half the  
country in under an hour. She'd been under the general impression that he didn't like or appreciate her all that much; he'd said rude things to her many times. Laura didn't know  
all that much about social interactions, but she hadn't felt all that good when he'd called her a 'creep' (among other things). She'd known by his tone of voice that it was an  
insult; she had later looked it up in the dictionary for confirmation. Definition number 14 seemed to support this theory—

_** '14. Slang. a boring, disturbingly eccentric, painfully introverted, or obnoxious person.'**_

She just didn't understand his behavior.

This was the third time today she'd visited him. She wasn't sure, either, if she was waiting for him to wake up, or using the opportunity for unobserved observation that his  
being asleep provided her with. She _had_ bolted on the second visit, when she'd heard his heart rate increase suddenly; she'd just made it to the door when he'd begun to stir.

Laura touched one foot to the floor and slid off the chair, looking around his room. It was fairly tidy, for a shortly post-adolescent male. She studied a picture on his bedside  
table—him and another boy that bore vague resemblance to him, although older. Behind this picture was another, in a silver frame—him and the girl that Laura had briefly seen  
during her arrival at the mansion. Sofia. Long hair—accent—smelled of pure O2 gas, presumably her mutation involved the molecules.

Yet another thing Laura didn't understand—what she was feeling, about Hellion. Why was she even here? Why did she like to watch him so much? It was almost addictive—Laura  
had never had anything that she couldn't get enough of in her life; she was used to being in complete control of her body's responses to minute degrees. Yet she couldn't control  
certain reactions in his presence—heart rate, breathing, and the secretions from her salivary and Bartholin's glands.

Her eyes continued roaming over his possessions—his watch. She picked it up, turned it over in her hand, not sure of what she was looking for. She put it back down carefully  
and turned her head. His closet.

His scent. The most confusing part of it all.

_Snff._ Like a bee attracted to pollen, Laura was attracted to the scent clinging to his clothes—his own chemical mixture, as well as the cologne he used. He had several sitting in  
his bathroom (Laura had browsed through there on the first visit, and had found three bottles—La Coste, Gucci and Calvin Klein, suggesting that he was of wealth). The combination  
of scent was intoxicating—the olfactory sensation, combined with his appearance, usually rendered her speechless. She picked up a black t-shirt and held it to her nose, inhaling  
against the collar and closing her eyes.

This was almost worse than the Trigger scent.

_Creek. _The bed. Laura's eyes snapped open. She whirled around, her arms behind her back with the t-shirt carefully concealed; she saw that Hellion was sitting up,  
staring at her with his mouth open.

"…" his eyes were wide. "What the hell are you doing here, Laura?" His voice was rusty and thick with sleep.

"…" Laura couldn't seem to form a sentence. Or a good explanation as to why she had been standing in his room, rooting through his laundry, smelling it.

"I…I wanted to ensure that your condition was stable," she said finally, believing that might be a sufficient explanation. He might accept it. She hoped.

"This isn't the infirmary," he said, his lip drawing up slightly. A sneer…he was sneering at her.

"Look, I'm too tired to deal with _you_ right now…why don't you just run along and go bother someone else, clone."

Laura tilted her head. Even though he'd been speaking, she hadn't noticed. The only thing she had noticed was that his lips looked especially good when he sneered. Again, the glands.

She bit her lower lip.

"OUT!" He jumped out of the bed; Laura bolted for the door, speechless. He slammed and locked the door behind her, and she stood for a moment, catching her breath. Literally.

She felt like she hadn't breathed for the last five minutes; her stomach was tight.

She realized she was holding something—his t-shirt. She turned to knock on his door—and stopped. _Snff._ It smelled so good, like him. Her mouth watered. Laura balled it up and all but  
ran to the room she shared with Sooraya with her booty.

**…**

Thankfully, Sooraya was gone when she entered the room. She went straight to her bed and sat down, the sniffed the shirt again. Maybe if she smelled it enough, she would  
become used to the stimulus and no longer be so dumbfounded when confronted by it.

_Snff. Snff. Snff._

Twenty minutes later, she was still sitting with the shirt pressed to her nose, when she heard Sooraya's footsteps in the hall. Taking a huge last _SNFF,_ she stuffed the shirt under  
her pillow, then crossed her legs and tried to look casual as the door opened.

"Laura," the other girl said in acknowledgement.

"Hello, Sooraya," Laura responded. Her voice was slightly uneven—her heart was still pounding from the concentrated scent.

Sooraya looked at her oddly for a moment, then shrugged and closed the door behind herself as she entered the room. "I am going to perform my prayers now. Does it bother you?"

"No," Laura responded, grateful that she could be alone with her thoughts for a while longer. Besides, she _liked_ watching Sooraya pray—she looked like she was communicating with  
something quite divine and fulfilling.

She laid down on her side, her head propped on her elbow as Sooraya knelt on her prayer mat and raised her hands to the ceiling, beginning.

"Allaabu Akbar.  
Allaabu Akbar.  
Allaabu Akbar.  
Allaabu Akbar.

Ash'hadu an laa Ilaaha Illallaah.  
Ash'hadu an laa Ilaaha Illallaah.  
Ash'hadu..."

Laura jerked her fingers out from beneath the pillow, realizing that she'd been running her fingers over the shirt. The scent, all over her skin now. She got up and went to the bathroom,  
then closed the door behind herself and turned the faucet on. _Snff._ She had to wash the scent away, now.

She looked at herself in the mirror and was alarmed. Her pupils were dilated—yes, dilated—her eyes glassy. Her expression reminded herself vaguely of Sooraya's during her prayers.

She turned the tap on full blast and rubbed her hands vigorously under the stream of water, her teeth gritted. Whatever this was—it had to stop. _Now._

**…**

Her resolution lasted until that evening, when she crawled into bed. She'd had a fulfilling day; she'd had a Danger Room session with Logan, who'd not spent much time with her lately.  
She was tired. The lights were off; Sooraya was asleep, as was the rest of the mansion. Her fingers reached under her pillow to support her head—and the texture of the t-shirt met them.  
She pulled it out and held it up in the air before her—she hadn't really _looked_ at it before this moment.

Her night vision made every detail clear—it was a black, cotton-blend t-shirt, Large, with a white skull printed with a silkscreen technique in the center (upper chest, along the solar plexus).

_Snff. Snff_. She closed her eyes, feeling the rush emanating from her lungs. She twisted slightly on the bed, restless. She had a sudden thought—more of a dream-like scene in her head—what  
if she crept down the hall, to his room…she would open the door, and find him in his bed, like earlier…

And then what?

Laura didn't even know what this feeling was, much less what to do with it. She was scared—she'd never had a daydream before. _Terminate this right now,_ she told herself sternly.

She fell asleep with her head over the skull print.


	2. addiction

**A/N: **hehehehe...ehehe...yeah I'm having too much fun with this -.-

 **Chapter 2 : addiction **

Laura sat in the back row of the class, as usual preferring to be as far away from the other students as possible. She was quite bored—she didn't _need_ to be here.  
She knew this information by heart; however, Logan and Mr. Summers had insisted, suggesting it was a chance to get to know the other children better—as well  
as receive an actual certificate for her information. Logan had informed her he wanted her to get a career.

"I have one," Laura had protested. "I am an assassin." Logan had sternly told her that didn't count, for some reason. So, under pressure, she had picked medicine,  
seeing as it was a subject she understood so well already.

She pressed the eraser of her pencil on the desk, supporting her chin with the other hand. Her eyes—entirely of their own volition—drifted across the room to Hellion's  
desk, were he sat beside Santo, whispering something to his friend. She admired the curve of his stomach under his shirt, and bit her lower lip. A thought—what did it  
feel like? _Why would she want to know?_ She focused on him again; he was smiling at Santo's response—she looked down. He'd _never_ smiled at her. But…more confusion!

Why would she _want_ him to smile at her?

As she understood it, smiling expressed pleasure, and positive emotions. Did she want him to express pleasure towards her presence? Laura bit her eraser (she liked the  
taste of natural gum rubber for some reason) and glanced up at him again—at the same moment he happened to be looking over his shoulder—at her.

They both flushed at the same time and looked away quickly.

_He is probably still confused about…the scenting,_ Laura thought, embarrassed. She flipped the page in her biology book, staring dully at the diagrams of human colons,  
then held up her hand as Dr. McCoy finished asking a class question.

"Yes, Laura?" Dr. McCoy asked, pointing at her.

"This data is flawed," Laura said. "The human colon is an average of 60 inches, or 1.52400 meters, but this book fails to mention that is a combination of four parts: Anal  
canal, 5 cm; Rectum,12 cm, Sigmoid colon, 40 cm; Descending colon, 15 cm; Transverse colon, 45 cm; Ascending colon, 25 cm. The splenic flexure is thus at around 72 cm  
from the anal verge, and the hepatic flexure at around 117 cm."

There were giggles around the room corresponding to her usage of the word 'anus'.

Dr. McCoy cleared his throat. "I'm afraid this is Grade 12 Biology, Laura…not first-year medicine. We're still trying to establish a basic picture of the human body."

"Oh," Laura said, feeling more embarrassment. People were staring at her like she was some sort of bacteria.

"Impressive, though," Dr. McCoy said. "It took me two nights to memorize that measurements for _my_ exams."

Laura looked away, not especially wanting to add that she'd learned the information through shock-torture. She hadn't been here long, but she was learning not to mention  
the parts of her life that involved pain and torture.

**…**

"Ughn!" Colossus had thrown Laura against the steel wall of the Danger Room like a ragdoll; she smashed her nose and lips against the unforgiving surface. When she  
pulled away, there was a large pool of blood on the metallic structure, especially red in the stark fluorescent lighting.

She wiped her arm across her face, hearing the strange clicking sound as her teeth realigned themselves. Like knitting needles, Megan had said. In a sense it was  
accurate—her body knitted itself back together. Laura pinched her nose to make sure it healed straight. It hadn't once, and had been crooked like a boxer's till  
she'd broken it again.

Four hundred seventy-one broken noses and counting.

She popped her claws again and ran towards Colossus. Both Hellion and Surge were shouting directions—do this, do that. She wasn't sure who she should listen to—  
Surge _was_ the official leader, but her body wanted to do whatever the boy said. She followed her gut instincts, like she usually did.

"Hup!" She back flipped over the steel man's back, intending to drag her claws down his front—_POW!_ He swiped her side with his fist, shattering several ribs and sending  
her spinning like a disc to the ground. She curled in a ball, holding her side.

"YOU ARE ALL DEAD," Colossus announced. "How you managed to defeat Nimrod, I'm not certain. Your strategy is terrible. You do not work as a unit—half of you are  
following Surge and the other half are following Hellion—who both have entirely opposite strategies."

Laura sat up. Sooraya looked down at her. "Are you alright, Laura?"

"…" she closed her eyes, then dug her fingers into her side, pinched hard, and pulled on a rib fragment. She hissed in pain as her lung healed, and then the bone snapped  
back in place. "I am fine now, thank you," she said, getting up. Colossus was leaving the Danger Room, and the students were filtering out. Hellion was scowling, his arms folded.

Laura swallowed—she—she wanted to say something reassuring. Limping to him, she laid her fingers on his shoulder. "Hellion," she started, then she inhaled, a mistake.

He looked at her with arched eyebrows, and she stood there, speechless, and dumbstruck. She struggled with the words. "Your…your strategy was not…unreasonable…to me."

"…thanks?" he said, then he reached up, wrapped his hand around her wrist and pushed it off his shoulder. "Bye," he said, turning his back on her. Her whole hand burned where  
he had touched her, and she bit her lip, angry at her body's betrayal. He must think she was slow-witted now.

**…**

Laura stood in the girl's locker room shower, her head pressed against the tiles. The water washed away scents, pains, aches, and made her skin tingle; the white tiles soothed her.  
They were home. Even the heat reminded her of her cell…it was familiar.

She craved the familiar right now. She wished her mother—or Debbie—or Megan—were here to answer some questions she had. Or some of the other, more familiar mutants she'd  
known before—Psylocke, Marvel Girl, Kitty Pryde. She could ask _them._ But the females here were strange—Emma Frost, who hated her; Sooraya, who was quite and reserved and  
did not seem like she would know; Cessily and Nori, both knowledgeable, but too loud, and dismissive of her. She didn't know them enough to ask questions.

Laura finally turned off the tap and wrapped herself in a towel, reluctantly forcing herself to consider a lab report that was due.

**…**

The next few days passed without any interactions with Hellion, and therefore without incident—except that Laura failed to remove the t-shirt from her bed. She was worried that she  
was becoming addicted to his scent, which could prove to be an enormous problem. Especially if he left the institute—where would she be then?

Several times she hid the article in her closet, trying to separate herself from it. She even tried to make herself return it, but could not.

It began to reach the point that she became irritable if she hadn't gotten to smell it, and she worried on.

**…**

The t-shirt went missing one evening, and Laura was quite frantic. She got up from the bed, walked back and forth nervously, and sat down again. Good. Here was her chance to break  
herself of the habit. The door opened—Sooraya—and Laura jumped to her feet.

"Did you see a black t-shirt on my bed?" Laura blurted. She'd left her bed unmade that morning (rare for her) along with her laundry.

Sooraya nodded. "It was Julian's. I have just returned from giving it back to him. He had mentioned it was missing, and asked everyone to let him know if it turned up…it is his favorite,  
apparently."

Laura tried not to look alarmed. She stood up and moved to the door, not sure where she was going. "Thank you…I was wondering whose it was," she forced herself to say.

"I am going for a walk."

Sooraya watched her, uncertain, but did not comment.

Outside the door, Laura looked towards _his_ room, her hands shaking. This was bad. Just as she'd feared, she was addicted—her first addiction—and she recognized her determination  
to have _more._ But—she wouldn't—would she? She looked at his door again, and her eyes widened as it opened and he stepped out—clothes in his arms. He turned around—locked it—  
then walked down the other hallway, and Laura waited for a minute.

This was bad. The doors had special locks—she couldn't open it without breaking it. He would know. So she followed him quietly, using the muscles in her ankles to pad her footing so  
he wouldn't hear her.

Finally he turned, went down some stairs, and entered the laundry room. Laura paused in the doorway, peering in as he sorted his clothes into piles, then shoved one pile into a machine.  
She gripped the doorframe as he pulled off the shirt he was wearing and added it to the load. She could see the muscles under his skin shifting, and if she'd thought she'd been reacting  
before—it was nothing compared to this.

He picked up the jug of detergent from the shelf, his arm flexing. She made a soft noise, betraying herself—and he turned, his eyes wide.

"Laura?" he asked. "What the _hell_ are you doing?"

"…" Laura swallowed, mortified. She'd never been caught watching anyone before. How to explain that she'd been stalking him like a deer? He walked towards her, his expression  
angry. Displeased. She looked down.

"Clone! Stop following me, got it?" he said sharply. "You're creepy…and weird. You make the hair stand up on the back of my neck."

Laura gave him a miserable look. "I…" then she inhaled—through her nose—and her expression changed completely to one of satisfaction. Her eyes slid shut. Oh, this was much,  
much better than the shirt.

_Snff. _

"Wha—you're _smelling _me?" Hellion sounded more surprised than offended.

"…yes," Laura said. She felt her face tighten—was she smiling?—and she opened her eyes again. He looked different too—his expression had changed. Now _he_ looked confused and  
uncomfortable…and like he didn't know what to say.

And his heart rate had increased.

"Laura…did you _take_ my shirt?" he asked, his voice a bit softer.

She nodded, then unable to resist, she leaned closer, holding onto the doorway for support, and hovered, her nose centimeters away from his throat.

_Snff._

Hellion stiffened—then he leaned forwards, his nose near her neck. _Snff_.

Laura's mouth went dry.

"…" he backed away. "Laura…I…this is a bit weird for me, okay? I…you smell really good….but…"

She stared at him. He was the one speaking in fragments now. "…and I'm not over Sofia yet…" he hit the machine. "Ow." He grinned at her stupidly, rubbing his hip; she just watched  
him openly, still smiling dreamily. She hadn't been aware that whatever she was feeling for this boy could feel so _good_, instead of just awkward. They watched each other for a while,  
then he reached into the machine—pulled out the shirt he'd added—and threw it at her, his forehead wrinkled. "Go away now," he said. "Please."

"Okay." Laura had what she wanted; she crumpled the shirt against her nose and inhaled, her eyes wide and trained on him; he swallowed. She turned and ran up the stairs, her boots  
making loud clomping sounds.


	3. tess

**A/N: **Thanks for the kind review! I'm excited about this story too, I was having a hankering to write more classic New X-men stuff...oh god, I'm calling it classic...I've done too much  
of this...ugh. Anyways, I looked at the clock and BAM I heard some kind of symphony because it was _daylight savings time and I got a whole EXTRA HOUR!! _So, here I bring you another  
chapter and I don't even have to lose sleep, yay! It's a treat to myself to write after about 9 hours spent on Chemistry. o.o

Also, this chapter gave me a chance to bitch about a book I read for class, _Tess of the D'Urbervilles._ Julian and Laura here express my opinion of the book. I know it was written a long time ago...  
it still has no content to me, and should not be taught as anything other than history literature or something. I was so friggen psyched that my teacher was _cool_ and changed this book to--  
V FOR VENDETTA! One of the best graphic novels ever produced, plot-wise. All things X are great, the characters rock, but unfortunately sometimes the plots are a bit weak. Alan Moore and  
Joss Whedon are the plot-masters, in my opinion. Oh yeah and Grant Morrison. I love, love, _love_ the work of these men. I love big deep plots that have tiny roots all over the story.

...Enjoy!

PS: Julian is his proper age in this story, about 17, early 18. A little birdy told me so.

 **Chapter 3 : tess **

Class. Exam. She scribbled furiously on the worksheet, supplying textbook-perfect definitions to Dr. McCoy's bone questions, then looked up, ahead; Hellion was  
wearing the t-shirt she'd borrowed from him for a while—and slept with. She'd noticed it right away when she stepped into the room—her own scent. He hadn't  
washed it. It didn't smell bad—it smelled very, very good—her scent mixed all over his like a territorial marker. She quite liked it, and had sat down at her desk,  
now in a pleasant, heady mood. She wondered what that meant. Why did he not wash it? She remembered the laundry room—he'd stopped, when he'd smelled her.

Did he like her scent too? _That_ flattered her, more than a lot of other things could have. She understood a favored scent. She understood things in terms of territory,  
even if she didn't understand the meanings and feelings that went with them. Her exam was done. She stood up and walked to Dr. McCoy's desk; she handed it in to  
him. He adjusted his glasses and smiled at her, mouthing 'thank you'. Laura turned and looked at Hellion again; she didn't wonder this time why he was looking at her,  
too, as if he'd forgotten the test. Dr. McCoy looked between the two and inhaled.

_Snff_.

"Ah," he said lightly. Laura's eyes widened—she bolted for the door.

"No running, please." Dr. McCoy called after her. Everyone looked up.

**…**

Flip. She shut her book, and typed the last paragraph on the word file she was processing for her lab report. Sooraya was on her bed, reading a book for English class  
that Laura had finished three nights ago. She was a fast, accomplished reader, but she really did not understand the book at all—Tess of the D'Urbervilles. It told some  
kind of story about a poor girl who did not know what she was doing—she had a child with a man, it died, and a long, strange story grew out of this, where Tess  
experienced a wide range of emotions towards some other man with two female names, Angel Clair. It ended with the girl murdering the original man and being hung. And  
then Clair went off with the girl's sister. Laura just did not understand how the story was at all logical.

And she had to write an essay on it, explaining it.

**…**

Laura was in English the next day, the first one there, as usual. Ms. Frost was organizing a stack of essays from last class, smiling to herself. She always gave Laura low  
grades—her notes said that her writing was exemplary, but her essays lacked understanding and interpretation; there was no 'emotional content' to them, she had written  
on one. She wanted 'your interpretation of the meanings of the events in the book _Tess of the D'Urbervilles_, in a well structured essay—three points with three points each,  
and a thesis statement—_not_ a summary of the book' which was what Laura had consistently provided her with, unable to understand any of the books and their meanings.

The door opened. Hellion. He hesitated for a moment, then entered the room and put his books down on the table behind hers. He usually sat in the corner of the room, far,  
far away from her, and ignored her for the whole class.

"Hi," he said, hovering over her.

"…hi," she answered, craning her neck to look up at him. He watched her for a second, then sat down at his desk.

"Did you read the book?" he asked. Conversationally. Lightly, as if they spoke often. She blinked.

"Twice," she said. _Snff,_ lightly. "I failed to understand it."

He wrinkled his nose. "I hate you. I'm on the first chapter. I fell asleep three times…and it was the afternoon." He grinned at her. She tilted her head.

"Do you…suffer sleep deficiency?" she asked.

"No." His smile faded. "It was just boring."

"Oh," Laura said, feeling like she'd displeased him. She didn't understand what _boring _meant. She decided to take out her dictionary at a prudent time and look up the definition.  
Megan had used it before, but it hadn't seemed as important then; she wasn't so intent on understanding every single word her cousin said.

_Snff_. She smiled slightly, satisfied. Fulfilled.

"Do you want to work on it together?" he said suddenly. "Once I read it."

"…" Laura stared at him. He was asking her if she wanted to spend time in his presence? Why? He didn't like her. His behavior was so strange. "Okay," she replied. It could have a  
tactical advantage—if he understood it better than she did, then perhaps she could get a better grade on her paper.

Among other…advantages.

She felt another pair of eyes on her, and turned; Emma Frost was watching them with a small frown. She certainly didn't seem pleased.

**…**

"The novel makes no sense," Laura said, a few days later, in response. She was in her room; Hellion was sitting in her computer chair, she on her bed, her legs folded. Sooraya was  
being tutored by Ms. Frost—Laura was glad, for some reason. She knew that her roommate was also studying the book—but for some reason, her feelings towards the boy gave her  
the strongest surge of sensation she'd experienced yet when she'd closed the door of her room and rendered them alone.

"Not really," he said, leaning back in the chair. _Creak._ "I fucking hate the main character. Tess. She has no backbone…she doesn't know what the hell she wants...there's not even a  
plot to the story. I checked the net—there's apparently a rape scene in the book, but I couldn't find it."

She picked up the book from the bed, to have something she could hold. "There _is_ no rape scene in this book. I believe it is only implied."

"Ripoff," Hellion said lightly. "For a twenty-dollar book in which I hate all the characters, the sex scenes should be explicit, and it should be full of violence."

Laura arched her eyebrows.

"I have been raped before," she said, regretting it the moment the words left her lips. Hellion's eyes widened, and he straightened in the chair.

"What?! Who?!"

"Not here," she said. "Before." She looked down, wondering why she would bring it up. "It was a employment hazard. I…I worked for living expenses."

"Jesus Christ, Laura! You're seventeen!" he blurted. She closed her eyes, thinking that he sounded quite angry at her. She bit her lower lip.

He sighed, ran a hand through his hair. "Sorry. That's so disgusting. I…" he cleared his throat. "I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Laura said, not sure why he was apologizing. He thought she was disgusting—repulsive.

He leaned forward in the chair, his elbows on his knees. _Creak. _"So, what do you think the book is about?"

"I don't know," Laura answered. "I do not understand it. The girl is simply confused…she goes to a mansion to make money for her impoverished family; she is raped, she has a  
child, it dies and she does not seem to notice. She works for various employers, experiences more confusion over a male, and then unites with her rapist. She later kills him and  
leaves with the second male; he lets the authorities detain and hang her, then begins to think about her sister. I do not see a point to this novel, unless it is to record actual  
events. My understanding is it _is_ a work of fiction."

"Well…" Hellion shifted. He'd been hoping Laura had _some_ idea of what the book was about—but she had even less insight into it than he did. "Yeah, it's fiction. But it's not  
just confusion. She doesn't like the first guy…but he has money, and he tries hard, so she's kind of torn between not liking him and liking his money. And the second guy…  
she loves him…but he's a stuck-up self-righteous boy scout and treats her like dirt, then takes off…meanwhile her family is in trouble, because they need money. The first  
guy comes back, and offers her money to help them if she'll pick _him_, so she does…then the second guy comes back…" he shrugged. "I don't know why she does it, but  
she kills the first guy, and runs off with the second one…he lets the cops get her…she tells him to go after her sister…I know, that part is so weird. Anyway, I think it's  
about two different kinds of love…family, and, uh…"

He watched her. Laura looked confused. "You—you do know about love, right?"

"No," Laura said, after a moment. "I know about…family. How can there be two different kinds?"

"Oh boy," Hellion looked disturbed. "I dunno if I can explain this to you—maybe you should ask a teacher."

Laura looked disappointed.

"Well…uh…it's between guys…and, uh, girls. They get this really strong feeling—all sorts of things. I was in love once—I still am, I guess. My heart would beat faster—and—uh—  
my stomach would get all tight—and—uh…um…other stuff." He rubbed his neck. "There's different kinds of _that_, too…there's crushes…and there's real love…where you'd die for  
the other person…and…"

"Oh," Laura said. She'd been all ears—her eyes had widened slightly. Hellion had just put a name to some of her feelings. She was very, very interested.

"What's a crush?"

"Uh…it's a bit weaker," he said. "Well, not really. It's almost stronger at first. Sometimes it lasts, and turns into real love…sometimes it ends really fast, and you just don't feel  
anything for the person anymore." He stared at her, wondering _why_ he was telling her. Just last week, he'd thought she was the world's biggest creep—he'd almost been scared  
for his life when she'd been watching him in the laundry room.

And then—and then she'd leaned over and inhaled—a tiny little noise—and her lips had parted. He'd been so turned on—he hadn't realized it was possible. And then he had  
sniffed _her_, and discovered something totally new.

And now—and now he was sitting in a chair, opposite from her (on a bed), and he was explaining love and crushes to her—and he was wondering if there was some way to  
smell her again without her noticing and without it being awkward.

Probably not.

When had he started to think of her creepiness as being cute? Stop it, he told himself. He was just looking for ways to be distracted from the pain of losing Sofia, he told  
himself. It had _nothing_ to do with Laura, at all. He wasn't ready to be rejected again, he needed time to recover.

Besides, inter-team relationships almost always seemed to turn out ugly. He wanted to avoid them, from now on. He'd seen so many go wrong.

"I will be right back," Laura said, standing up. His eyes followed her across the room—she was going to the washroom. The door clicked shut, and he sprung out of the chair.  
_What the hell am I doing?_ he wondered, already elbow-deep in the laundry cart in her closet. He was creeped out at his own actions, especially by the fact that he was  
searching for something in particular.

The door opened, and Laura was staring at him.

"I…" he straightened, his mouth dry. "I was, um, looking for my shirt," he lied.

She blinked. "It is on the bed. Do you want it back?"

"N-no," he said. _Should have said yes!_ He closed his eyes. He was saying something. "…can I have a pair of your underwear?" he blurted, probably the most awkward thing  
he'd said this year. He yanked his hands out of the cart and covered his face. "Ohmigod, I'm sorry—forget I said that, please, it was completely—"

"I do not wear underwear," Laura said bluntly. He stared at her, between his fingers. Now his mouth was _really_ dry.

"Oh," he said faintly. His hands lowered slightly. "…bra?"

Laura shook her head. He eyed her figure.

"I should go," he said, his voice strained.

"We did not get anything done," Laura pointed out.

"Oh," he said again, wondering how he was going to sit. He was wearing jeans, and what'd he'd just heard would make it painful to do so. It would be weird if he just stood  
there the whole time though. He moved back to the chair and sat down, making a face and trying to think about turn-offs. Like Mr. Logan's back hair.

_How could he have a clone like this?_

"So, we have established that the book is about two kinds of…love—love for family, and love between a male and a female. Does she have a…'crush', or…'real love'?  
I still do not understand the difference."

"…Um," he swallowed. He wasn't so good at thinking when he was turned on.

**…**

Somehow, he made it through the rest of the discussion. Finally he glanced at the clock and was able to excuse himself—and Laura didn't protest. He stood up, walked to  
the door; Laura followed him. In the hallway, he paused and looked back at her. "Uh…" he said. "Thanks…it was, um, good to, uh, bounce ideas around. We should do it again."

"Okay."

"…Coffee? Tomorrow?" he figured it might be easier in public.

"Okay," Laura said, her hand on the doorframe.

"After English?"

"Okay." Laura leaned forward slightly. _Snff._

He paused, then did the same, pressing his nose into her neck and inhaling.

_Snff._

Laura bit her lower lip.

Then he backed up, alarmed at his reaction. "Bye, then," he said awkwardly, going the wrong way down the hallway. Laura watched him; he realized his error and corrected his  
direction, staring at the floor, vaguely embarrassed. He had something he had to do, quite badly, that involved the privacy of his room.

…

What. The. Fuck.

Julian was lying on his bed, completely dazed. He was very, _very_ confused by what was going on. He still thought Laura was weird—creepy (the two reoccurring words in his  
descriptions of her to himself and to others)—she scared the shit out of him—she looked like she was sizing everyone up for coffins all the time—her eyes burned a hole in him.

But he couldn't stop thinking about her now. Every time she leaned over—did that tiny inhale through her nose, he just about lost control. He didn't know if it was the sound, or  
the way her upper lip curled up—or if it was just the fact that she was smelling him—he wanted to slam her back against the nearest wall and do things. To her.

And then—and then—the way she smelled.

He rubbed his face with his hand. "UGH!" He'd forgotten he had something _in_ it, and he scrambled off the bed, running for the bathroom.


	4. false impressions

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews!

**zackslacker18: **Haha, we'll see.

**Laura K. Howlett: **Yeah...but more the fact that Julian is using the world "clone" as an insult--that's not his problem. The _problem_ is he's a weenie  
and he's scared of Laura. You'll see more about this ;-) The Julian in this story is more of a jerk than the one I've been writing; he's also younger  
and more inexperienced so in a way he's like Laura--he's got the feelings but he doesn't know what to do with them. = jerk as is what usually happens  
with teenaged boys (he's not _all_ jerk though, who wants to read a story about a boy who's just mean and has no redeeming qualities!)  
Also...aww, thank you! I hope you do write!! And, this story takes place post-Nimrod...as in _all_ the events of X-23's and Hellion's lives have occurred.  
This is 616. However, this story does not follow the events afterwards, ie Mercury Falling, the return of Magik, and MC (because I wrote all that in the  
Helix series). Snff got its own plots combined from lots of elements.

Elements...chemistry...omg I must go back to it...

* * *

 **Chapter 4 : false impressions **

"Try HARDER!" Colossus bellowed, flinging Laura off his arm like a rag doll. She spun through the air and hit Hellion squarely in the chest before he could move.  
They tumbled to the floor in a pile of arms and legs, Hellion on the bottom, taking the brunt of the impact.

Laura stared at him with wide eyes for a moment. She hadn't, even in her odd fantasies, considered being _this_ close to him-her flesh started to tingle, where  
they were touching. Which was everywhere.

"AGHH!" Surge yelled as Colossus dashed her against the floor.

"You are all _dead!_" he bellowed, yet again. "I am disappointed!" He turned his back on them and exited the room, his shoulders bunched tightly together.

"Guys, we have to work as a _team,_" Surge said, glancing angrily around the room. "David...I want us to have a strategy...a really _good_ strategy for taking down  
Colossus for next time. We won't fail again."

"I'll try," David said. "Would be easier if I still had my powers."

Everyone was leaving, murmuring to each other. Santo grinned at his friend, still on the floor, pinned under the creepy girl. "She's stalking you now, huh?"

"Uh," Julian pushed Laura back, propping himself up on his elbows. Santo waved at him and headed for the showers, leaving them officially alone. And the movement  
had made it worse-she was now sitting on his lap, and could feel just about everything. She was staring at him.

"Off, clone!" he snapped, raising his knee to shove her away.

_Snff._

"..." he stopped, knowing she could feel _that_. He reached up, pulled her down-buried his face in her neck, inhaling. Again and again. Then he moved her face to the side  
with his fingers on her jaws and kissed her, hard, and bit her lower lip, something he'd been wanting to do after watching _her _do it so often. Laura made a noise of surprise  
and pulled away.

"Hellion..."

"Julian," he corrected, his breath short.

"..." Laura looked upwards, and Julian followed her gaze. Oh shit-Ms. Frost was up there, looking displeased, with folded arms.

_**Need I remind you of the school code, Mr. Keller? **_She asked harshly. _**It explicitly states that acts such as I have witnessed here are not to be done in  
public on school property. **_

"Sorry," he murmured. He extracted himself from under Laura, got up and made his way to the locker room, limping slightly.

**...**

English class. Laura's eyes shot to the door-she could now detect Julian's presence by his _scent_ coming down the hall, as she normally relied on sound and  
visual giveaways for approaching persons.

He opened the door and walked in, trying to look at her. He sat down in the seat behind her and dropped his books on the table.

"Hi," she said. _Snff._

"Hi," he responded, still not looking up. He'd had a bad night, and wanted two things quite desperately. Only one of them involved sleep.

Laura hesitated, then reached over and brushed the backs of her fingers over his on the desk. He froze, staring at his hand; the hairs were standing up on his entire arm.  
"Stop," he said, pulling his hand away. The scent thing was bad enough...he was just barely keeping that in check. He couldn't handle any other temptations at the moment.

He had realized, last night, that he hadn't thought about Sofia in days. That had scared him so much that he'd hadn't been able to sleep, his mind constantly trying to  
remember things about her. Her voice, her hair, her eyes. Her smell. He didn't remember what she smelled like at all (even though it had only been two months since  
she'd left)-all he could think of was Laura's scent, and that she didn't wear certain articles of clothing.

Laura pulled away her fingers, seemingly unaffected by his request. He studied her lips-they were very red, dark red-either she had _very_ good lipstick, or that was her  
natural coloring-there'd been no pigment on his face after...the Danger Room incident. She'd tasted sweet and fresh, like peppermint.

"Julian?" she asked.

"Hmm?"

"I asked if you are finished with the report yet." They had met for coffee, twice, and had discussed the book more. Julian had found that being in public with her really  
didn't change much, except that he was even jumpier about how close he let her get (he'd knocked over his cup last time).

"No. I have to proofread it." He opened his book; Ms. Frost had just entered the room, and her eyes had riveted on them, her displeasure quite obvious. He was reminded  
of her desire for him to eliminate Laura from the team, in the beginning.

**...**

"Julian-a word," said Ms. Frost as he headed for the door, class finished. He stopped, knowing what was coming.

At least she waited till everyone was gone.

"I wish you would stay away from Ms. Kinney. She's a very, very bad influence. You have no idea how dangerous she is...just how deadly she can be. She could kill

you without a second thought, and feel no regret."

He gritted his teeth. Being told something was bad and wrong for him just made him want it more.

"Darling, I know," Emma put her hand on his shoulder. "I know you are attracted to her...she was designed to be perfect, you know. All her beauty is just genetic tinkering,  
to make the perfect assassin-the kind that can get away with _murder._" She smiled slightly. "I should know-that's why _I _invested twenty thousand dollars into  
cosmetic surgery. To get away with murder."

"I'm sorry, Ms. Frost...I fail to see how this is your business," Julian said coldly.

"You are angry, Julian, because I made Surge leader," Emma said. "I did it to save you. I care for you-you remind me of _myself. _The circumstances now-after what you  
endured in past year, I did not want to put you under any more _stress _than necessary. However, nowI am afraid you are pursuing Ms. Kinney to retaliate, knowing of my  
distaste for her."

"Well, I'm not," Julian said acidly.

"It's just attraction, then?" Emma pressed.

"None of your business, Ms. Frost. I'll take care of myself, and that includes my own interests." He turned his back on her.

**...**

"Sofia..." he moaned. He was having a dream-the same dream, flying with Wind Dancer. He loved watching her long, long hair fly; he'd never seen anything like it. It was  
like a big ribbon of hair, snaking behind her, accentuating her movements.

The dream changed. He was back in the Danger Room, and Laura was on his lap again, except this time they didn't stop. He twisted his hands in her hair, feeling how soft  
and silky it was, and he buried his face in neck, sniffing. His fingers were undoing the snaps on her tank top, he pulled it apart...

_Snff._

Julian sat bolt upright in bed, awake. "Laura?" he asked, his heart pounding. Silence, darkness. No answer. He turned on the bedside light in time to see his door closing, and  
sprung out of bed, not noticing that his sheets were twisted around his legs. He fought them off and ripped his door open, looking around the hallway. Something wasn't  
right-it was empty.

Then it was completely full-of bodies. He jumped back in disgust; some had suddenly appeared around his feet. They were decayed and bloody, their hair falling out in clumps.  
Julian pressed his back against the wall to avoid the fingers reaching towards him.

There were hundreds of them.

"X-23..." they were hissing, but not in unison. It was a disorganized chorus of raspy voices, that sounded like dry air sacs forcing stale air through clogged tubes.

He stared down the hallway. There was Laura, in her gear-looking so perfect, with that innocent smile she had. She was beckoning him over-the bodies were twisting against  
her. The bodies were his teammates-Cessily, Santo, Nori, David, Josh...Emma...Scott...her claws were out.

"Julian," she said pleasantly. For some reason he stepped forward-her claws plunged into his stomach-he was in pain-he tried to make a noise but she calmly ripped them  
upwards. They broke through his ribcage, to the top of his chest, his throat...then she started to part her hands, still smiling. "I'm looking forward to joining you," she said calmly.

**...**

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Julian woke up-for real-screaming as hard as he could. It took him a bit to convince himself it was a dream-someone was pounding at his door.

"Julian!" Sooraya's voice. "Are you alright? We heard you screaming-"

He got out of bed, still shaky, and went to the door. What if he was still dreaming-what if _she_ was there, waiting for him? He opened the door-there was  
Sooraya-_and there she was! _He recoiled.

"Agh! Get away from me, clone!" he snapped.

Laura stepped back; Sooraya put her hand on his shoulder. "Julian-calm down. You were dreaming."

Footsteps in the hall-Cessily, looking worried. "What the hell's going on?"

Julian rubbed his face. "Just a bad dream. You can all go, I'm good now."

"Must have been some dream," Cessily said, worried. "You sure you're not suffering PTSD? Emma told us-"

"I'm fine," he said, his tone firm. "Goodnight." He closed the door in their faces, feeling like an asshole, but he didn't feel like elaborating. He leaned his back on the door,  
closing his eyes. The dream had been so realistic; he had no doubt that Laura _could_ kill him-kill them all-without a second thought. Just like that...pop her claws, stab  
a vital organ...he wouldn't even be able to shield himself.

_Knock knock. _A very soft rapping on his door.

"I _said_, go away!" he called. The rapping repeated itself; he finally yanked it open.

Laura, looking uncertain. "I..."

"I'm not in the mood to deal with you, little girl," he said, his lip curling. "Run along now, you hear?"

She hesitated, then reached out and pressed her fingers against his chest. His heart beat faster-but it didn't have anything to do with desire, now. He grabbed her  
wrist and pushed it away.

"X-what happened last practice-that wasn't an invitation to touch me. I still don't know why I did that-maybe 'coz you were sticking your boobs in my face-but  
I certainly don't feel anything for you, and I don't want to get any closer to you, okay?"

Laura closed her eyes. "Okay," she said.

_Snff._

"Goddamn it! Stop doing that!" he snapped. "I don't want you smelling me anymore, got it?"

"Okay," Laura said, her lip trembling slightly.

"Don't follow me either. You creep me out. Goodnight." He slammed the door in her face and locked it, then dragged a heavy chair in front of it with a thought. At least it  
would take her a second to get through that barrier, if she suddenly chose to attack.

**...**

On the other side of the door, Laura looked at the floor, and a tear rolled down her nose. She felt burning humiliation-something she was familiar with. She felt like Kimura  
had just broken every bone in her body. She felt-she ran down the hallway, to her room, and slammed the door, startling Sooraya out of an uneasy slumber.

"Laura?" her roommate asked, then turned on the light, hearing sobbing noises. The clone had thrown herself onto her bed, and was burying her face in her pillow, her  
shoulders shaking. Sooraya hesitated, then got out of bed and padded over. "What is wrong? What happened?"

The girl continued to sob, showing no signs of having heard her roommate.

Sooraya touched her shoulder tentatively. "Laura. Please stop crying."

Laura sat up. "I-I am sorry. I will go somewhere else." She got up, but Sooraya stopped her. "No, that is not what I meant...I do not like to see you upset. What happened?  
Did Julian say something to you?"

The clone nodded shakily.

"What did he say?" Sooraya pressed gently.

Laura took a breath. "He told me many things. 'I'm not in the mood to deal with you, little girl. Run along now, you hear?' then 'X-what happened last practice-that wasn't  
an invitation to touch me. I still don't know why I did that-maybe 'coz you were sticking your boobs in my face-but I certainly don't feel anything for you, and I don't want  
to get any closer to you, okay?'; also, 'Goddamn it! Stop doing that! I don't want you smelling me anymore, got it?'."

Sooraya blinked.

"Then he said, 'don't follow me either. You creep me out. Goodnight.'," Laura finished. She'd also copied his facial expressions fairly accurately.

She started crying again.

"I do not understand...I just...do not understand," she said, her voice pleading.

"Laura-" Sooraya had been unprepared for the level of detail in Laura's statement. "Did Julian and you do something?"

The clone blinked. "Do what?"

Sooraya frowned. She did not like to mention sex; it was taboo in her country. However, she did not like seeing Laura in pain; she struggled for a moment, then whispered  
something very vague to the girl.

"Copulation? No. Why would we do that?" Laura asked loudly. In her experience, copulation had only been practiced for profit; she knew nothing of how it was related to attraction.

Sooraya looked uneasy. "It is not my place to discuss such things. Cessily would be able to explain it to you, Laura...you should ask her, tomorrow." She tried to smile at the  
other girl. "You should sleep now. Things will be better in the morning."

**...**

However, things were not better in the morning-at least for Laura. In class, Julian took a seat very far away from her again; he and Santo made obnoxious comments about her  
at lunch, ignoring her presence entirely. This became the theme throughout the whole day-he ignored her. They had team practice, and even in the instructions he shouted,  
he omitted her.

"You are all dead!" Colossus said finally. "I hope you are happy!" He left, and Nori began berating David for not having a better strategy-then Julian, for speaking up when he  
didn't have 'the right'.

"His strategy was logical," Laura protested, holding her head up so her neck would heal right.

"Yeah? Of course you think that, you're his girl friend!" Nori snapped.

"..." Julian's eyes glowed. "Don't you _ever_ say that again. EVER. I have nothing to do with the clone."

Nori laughed. "A match made in heaven. Or should I say hell?"

Julian gave her the finger. "I don't have time for this." He pointed at Laura. "YOU! I thought I told you to stay the fuck away from me! Why are you still here?"

"..." Laura stomped out of the Danger Room, her claws slicing through her knuckles. She entered the girl's locker room and took a long shower (after punching the wall and cutting  
the skin of her wrist several times), sniffling in the steam with the occasional sob. In the room over, Sooraya looked worried. "I think you should talk to her, Cessily," she told her  
teammate. "She is having a problem with Julian."

"Oh no," Cessily said, looking alarmed. "What's he done now?" She'd been listening to Laura cry for the past five minutes, and felt very bad.

"It did not sound good," Sooraya said, grimacing slightly. "I believe he has falsely given Laura the impression that he was interested in her as a...companion. She told me what he  
had said." Briefly, Sooraya attempted to relate what Laura had quoted so perfectly last night.

"He led her on?!" Cessily gasped. "Grr! I am so going to beat him up for this, I swear. Laura's in _no state_ to be abused by boys..." she zipped up her pink, fluffy sweater and  
rushed out of the room to find Julian.


	5. unflattered

**A/N: **thanks for all the great reviews! XcD Here's a nice big chapter for you...with plenty of content.

* * *

 **Chapter 5 : unflattered **

"JULIAN!" Cessily bellowed, spotting him as he was about to enter his room. "I need to talk to you, you little douche bag!"

"WHAT?" he called back, annoyed. His hand was on the doorknob…he was going to take a shower (he hadn't wanted to do it downstairs because he wasn't in the  
mood for Santo's teasing, and he was paranoid and delusional about Laura sneaking in now, to the point that sudden noises overly startled him and he kept thinking  
he saw her at his window).

Cessily reached his door and glared at him, then reached up and flicked him on the forehead—with her metal nail.

"OW!" he yelled, jumping back. "What the fuck was that?!"

"Because," Cess said, her teeth gritted. "A little birdie told me you've been playing games with Laura."

His eyes widened. "What? I did no such thing!"

"Sooraya told me," Cessily said. "She said that Laura said that _you_ said you did something last practice—with her—and you don't even like her. Something about bobs,  
I think it was boobs, knowing _you_. It was 100 percent asshole!"

Julian shifted. "I might've said something like that—yeah—but that's taken way out of context! You have no idea—OW!" Cessily flicked him again, quite violently.

"OH MY GOD! You can't treat her like that! She's been through so much that no one will ever know—and she's nice! And _no girl_ deserves that kind of treatment—no matter  
if you like them or not! What kind of a person are you! You're creepier than _she _could ever be, y'know!"

He cringed against the wall. Cessily was loud, and violent, like a sister he had absolutely no power over. And she usually took it upon herself to clean up his act.

Thank god she hadn't waited till the cafeteria this time.

"You're going to apologize to her!" Cessily hissed.

"No way! Have you _seen_ the way she looks at us?! Cess—she's waiting to kill us! _That's _what my dream was about—she killed _everyone_ here with a smile—including me."

Cessily blinked. "Laura wouldn't do that, you idiot. She _likes _it here. I think she really likes _you_, too. Are you blind?"

"Well, I don't like her!" he blurted. "She's so weird. The hair stands up on the back of my neck when she's around, if you haven't noticed how I keep rubbing it lately. She's so…"

"…perfect for you," Cessily interrupted him. "_You're_ a creep, like I said. When I first came here, I didn't want anything to do with you either! You seemed like such a pervo. I had  
to get to know you better to move past that impression."

"Wha—really?" Julian frowned.

"Yes. You should date her! You'd be a cute couple."

"Oh, god—absolutely not," he said. "Cess—I'm not hardly over Sofia. Just stay out of it—Laura will be just fine. She'll get over me. It's just a crush." He shuddered. "I hope."

"If I hear about you being mean to her again…_I'll _stab you!" Cessily formed her arm into a blade. Julian held up his hand in surrender, his other twisting the doorknob behind his back.

**…**

Laura leaned on her hand in Biology during break, trying to keep her eyes trained on her book; unfortunately, she'd gotten so used to sneaking glances at Julian that she couldn't  
stop herself. It hurt every time she looked at him, somewhere in her chest and her throat, and her eyes felt watery. She didn't understand _this_ either—but she felt awful.

She wanted to make the feeling end.

She realized she was hunching forwards, drawing her claws along the skin of her wrist, under the table. The pain seemed to help her focus. She glanced at him again and realized  
that he'd turned his head slightly (in the middle of a conversation with Santo) and his eyes were fixed on her. Rather, he was looking at the view provided by her actions—he could  
obviously see down her tank top. He hadn't bothered to look _under_ the table, to see what she was doing. She straightened, withdrawing her claws; he turned away again.

Laura sighed.

**…**

"Hi," Cessily whispered to Laura the next morning, during French class break. She'd sat down beside the clone (which was odd, as she usually sat across the room beside Sooraya).

"…" Laura blinked. "Hi."

"What's up, buttercup?" Cessily asked, opening her text book.

Laura was silent, not knowing how to respond to this.

"You're supposed to say 'the sky, butterfly'," Cessily whispered. She smiled at the other girl warmly, then followed her gaze and sighed. "Look. I know about—"

Laura glanced at her, alarmed. "How—"

"Sooraya," Cessily murmured. "Listen—I spoke to Julian for you—"

"—!—" Laura stared at her. "He told me never to bother to him again! He must be very angry." She looked down.

"Pfft. Laura, he's not _God._ He's just a guy—a pretty dumb one at that. Doesn't know a good thing when he sees it. You shouldn't listen to anything he says—keep doing what you  
were doing. Julian's just afraid."

"He is not unintelligent," Laura protested. "I do not like disturbing him. I was unaware that my presence bothered him so much."

"It doesn't. He's just scared of his own feelings. Don't let it get to you—he's a good guy, when it comes down to it. If you like him…go for it." Cessily watched Laura carefully. "_Do_ you like him?"

"Yes. He saved my life," Laura said, thinking that was an acceptable answer.

"No. I mean, do you _like_ him, like him."

"Like him, like him?" Laura parroted.

"Do you have a crush on him?"

Laura swallowed. "I…I do not wish to discuss this," she said nervously.

Cessily sighed. "Laura…sometimes it feels better to _talk_ about these things. With girl friends. I liked someone too…he didn't like me back. At all. You told Sooraya that something _had_ happened  
between you two…I think that's a pretty good indicator that he likes you, too."

"_Likes_ me, likes me?" Laura asked, confused.

Cessily nodded. "He didn't say to me, one way or another…but I've known Julian for a long time, now. I can tell when he likes someone, whether he wants to say it or not. Tell you what…I'll listen  
in on his and Santo's conversations for you." She smiled in a friendly manner.

"I can listen in to his conversations," Laura pointed out. "My mutation includes enhanced hearing. I do not require assistance."

"But I can _understand_ what he's saying," Cessily pointed out. "I know! Why don't we eavesdrop on him together? It'll be so awesome. I bet we get all kinds of dirt…all those two talk about is girls."

Laura stared at her.

**…**

Noting that she only had one pair of clean pants left, Laura unhooked her hamper from its frame and slung it over her shoulder, then headed to the laundry room, lost in thought. Why did Cessily  
want to eavesdrop on him? What purpose would it serve? All that mattered was what _he_ had told her himself.

She was lost in thought and didn't notice the room was occupied till she was in it.

"…" she stopped. Julian was frozen over the washing machine, his arm still in it, staring at her. She smelled fear. She looked at the tiled floor carefully and walked down the row, to a machine at  
the end, then set the bag down and began sorting her clothes into piles. There were only three—reds, blacks, and whites; she had one green tank top that she put in with the blacks. It was  
senseless to do a load for one garment. She was acutely aware of his presence in the room; after a minute of watching her, he returned to his task, stuffing the clothes in the machine,  
although he was still aloof.

_BANG! _The door of the machine slammed shut, and Laura jumped slightly. Footsteps. She looked up from crouching to scoop up her clothes; Julian was standing over her, his expression brooding.  
She watched him for a moment, her eyes wide—was he angry? She had a right to be here though—as much as anyone else. She moved to the machine and began dropping the articles in, making  
sure to distribute them evenly.

_Snff._ She whirled around; he'd just leaned in and smelled her.

"Julian?" she asked, confused.

"Forget it." He turned away.

"I—" she stepped after him and laid her fingers on his arm.

"I don't know. I can't tell you. I think you're creepy and weird and fucked up…I'm still in love with Sofia…for god's sakes, I'm scared to death of you, Laura…  
but I can't stop thinking about you," he said in a small voice.

She parted her lips. "I—why are you scared?"

Julian looked down miserably. "You could kill _everyone_ here, as quickly as thinking about them. And you'd never think of them again. And…" he swallowed. "I don't know if I like what you do to me.  
I'm terrified of it. I mean—this weird _smelling _thing, Laura. I don't have any kind of special nose-powers, and yet here I am, sniffing you back."

Laura smiled slightly at the description of her abilities.

"You do something to me and that scares me, too. I don't know what it is. It feels like losing control…I don't think it's a good way to live, on the edge all the time…" he rubbed his neck to soothe  
the prickle, and he eyed Laura warily. "I liked it with Sofia…it was _normal_. Sure, it was wild sometimes…she had fire…but at the end of the day, if I could hug her, or kiss her, I was happy.  
I didn't feel so _desperate._"

Laura blinked. "Why are you telling me this?" she asked.

"…" Julian paused. "I don't know. Uh, Cessily said…Cessily said I should date you. I thought it was a bad idea."

Laura tilted her head. "'Date'? What is a 'date', Julian?"

"You know…ask you out."

"Out?" Laura was perplexed.

"To do stuff." Julian was annoyed now. Not that he _had_ been asking her—he thought it was a terrible idea, and should never happen. For some reason, though, he kept hearing Cessily's words  
in the back of his mind.

"Stuff?"

"This is one of the reasons it would be a bad idea. It'd never work between us. I don't have the patience…you don't know squat about shit." He closed his eyes, trying to be less annoyed.

"Just trust me—the whole romance thing wouldn't work. I think we should just be teammates—maybe, _maybe_ friends, if I ever start trusting you."

"I would like to be—friends," Laura said.

Julian hesitated, then stripped off his shirt and handed it to her, his expression uncertain. "Could I—could I have something of yours?" he asked.

"…" Laura was confused. "Do you do this with your other friends?"

"No…" he sighed. "This has nothing to do with _that_. I told you—I'm attracted to you—I just—I don't want to _do_ anything about it. Okay?"

"Okay," Laura said. She reached up to the top of the row of hooks on her corset and undid one deftly.

"No! Not the one you're wearing."

"The scent will be better."

He stopped. So she'd put two and two together and figured out he was crazy about the way she smelled, too.

"I don't want to see you naked. _That_ would make it awkward. " He looked at her laundry piles. "The green one. Can I have it?"

Laura hesitated, then picked it up and presented it to him. He noted that her eyes matched the color of the fabric; he took it from her, hesitated, then pulled his shirt off and shoved it into  
her hands. He watched her for a moment, figuring the top, then turned away, pausing to put on a fresh shirt and pick up his basket before heading up the stairs.

She held his shirt for a little while, wondering.

**…**

"LAURA! I told you to meet me at my room at ten! We're going snooping!" Cessily said, poking her head into Laura's and Sooraya's room.

Laura was sitting with her legs crossed, her hands on her knees, her back ramrod straight. Her expression was odd. Cessily raised an eyebrow, folding her arms, and examined the bed.

"What's that?" Cessily asked, her eyes suddenly narrowing in on a piece of fabric wedged between the bed and Laura's pillow. It was bright orange. Sort of like…she suddenly elongated her arm,  
avoiding Laura's desperate scramble, and pulled out a t-shirt from beneath the pillow.

"OHMIGOD!" Cessily squealed. "That's _his_ shirt!"

Laura sat back on the bed, her eyes full of guilt.

"Did you steal it from him?" Cessily pried, examining it. There was no doubt—Julian was the only one in the mansion with a t-shirt that said "_Federal Booby Inspector_" in big black letters. For a  
brief moment she reconsidered her advice that Laura pursue him.

"No," Laura said. "He gave it to me. In exchange for an article of my clothing."

"—!—" Cessily almost dropped the t-shirt. "Ohmigod! What did he say?"

Laura took a deep breath.

"'Forget it.' Then, 'I don't know. I can't tell you. I think you're creepy and weird and fucked up…I'm still in love with Sofia…for god's sakes, I'm scared to death of you, Laura…but I can't  
stop thinking about you'."

Cessily blinked. She hadn't expected a perfect recollection of the events, complete with an imitation of Julian's facial expressions. It was vaguely amusing, like the girl was mocking him.

Laura wasn't done. "'You could kill _everyone_ here, as quickly as thinking about them. And you'd never think of them again. And…I don't know if I like what you do to me. I'm terrified of it. I  
mean—this weird _smelling _thing, Laura. I don't have any kind of special nose-powers, and yet here I am, sniffing you back.'"

Laura paused for breath.

"'You do something to me and that scares me, too. I don't know what it is. It feels like losing control…I don't think it's a good way to live, on the edge all the time…I liked it with Sofia…it  
was _normal_. Sure, it was wild sometimes…she had fire…but at the end of the day, if I could hug her, or kiss her, I was happy. I didn't feel so _desperate._"

Cessily folded her arms again, seeing where he had been going with his conversation.

"…" Laura took another deep breath. " 'I don't know. Uh, Cessily said…Cessily said I should date you. I thought it was a bad idea.' Then, 'You know…ask you out. To do stuff." Laura scowled,  
and Cessily almost laughed out loud. Her imitation of Julian being a pain was quite accurate.

" 'This is one of the reasons it would be a bad idea. It'd never work between us. I don't have the patience…you don't know squat about shit. Just trust me—the whole romance thing wouldn't  
work. I think we should just be teammates—maybe, _maybe_ friends, if I ever start trusting you. Could I—could I have something of yours?'"

"Whoa whoa…" Cessily held up her hand, but Laura continued.

" 'No…'" she paused to sigh. " 'This has nothing to do with _that_. I told you—I'm attracted to you—I just—I don't want to _do_ anything about it. Okay? No! Not the one you're wearing.  
I don't want to see you naked. _That_ would make it awkward. The green one. Can I have it?' And that is all he said to me."

"…" Cessily rubbed her face. "Wow. He has more issues than National Geographic." She looked determined, all of a sudden. "We are _going_ to get you that boy, Laura, if it's the  
last thing I do. I swear…"

Laura blinked, not sure what she meant. "Cessily?" she asked.

"Come _on!_ We're missing prime snitching hour. Ten on a Saturday morning? Three guesses to what Julian and Santo are doing!"

"…" Laura took her question seriously. "Sleeping?"

"No! They're in the living room, playing video games with Josh. Come _on!_" She stretched her hand into Laura's room, wrapped her fingers around her wrist, and jerked her off the bed.

**…**

Laura sat on the kitchen counter, her legs folded in a yoga position, her eyes staring off into space. Cessily leaned against the fridge, her arms folded. She was watching Laura intently.

" '…the left! The left! No, you dumbass, what the fuck are you doing? You're just a big dumb pile of rocks!' Julian." Laura was quoting the game players, two rooms away (in the Rec room).

" 'How are you even a Hellion?!' Julian. 'Are you playing with your elbows?' Josh." Laura tilted her head.

Cessily sighed. They had been in the kitchen for an hour, waiting for the topic of 'girls' to come up. She _knew_ it would happen at some point—it always did. She'd done plenty of eavesdropping  
in her day. But today they were taking longer than normal; and she didn't know how much longer she could handle listening to their gaming talk. They'd also had a stupid conversation about  
Monty Python that Laura had paused to question Cessily about.

" ' Good going, Santo'. Julian. 'You get an A for effort.' Josh. 'I do what a stone can,' Santo. 'I guess we gotta give him credit…he _does_ get up in the mornings. I mean, I would've just stayed in  
bed if I looked like that—OW!' Julian. 'Son of a bitch! JOSH! Help!' Julian, again. 'Jeez, okay. Santo, play nice with the squishies. I don't know how many more times you can hit him in the head  
without him suffering permanent damage.' Josh. ' I think it's happened already.' Santo."

Cessily rolled her eyes. "Ohmigod! They're such _losers!_"

" Losers?" Laura asked. "What have they lost?"

" More like what they _haven't_ lost," Cessily grumbled. She expected Laura to laugh, but instead she just looked more confused.

" I do not understand," she said.

" I'll tell you later. Keep listening."

Laura tilted her head. " '…so I think the Cuckoos have a thing for me.' Santo. 'You _always_ say that, every freakin' day.' Josh. 'Yeah, well, you can't rush perfection. I don't see _you_ having a girlfriend'  
Santo. ' That's because…' Josh. 'Santo, you dumb pile of rocks, just shut up. We don't need to hear about the girlfriends you don't have.' Julian."

Cessily was excited. "FINALLY! Here it comes!"

Laura closed her eyes. " 'Yeah, well, I can think of someone who's not _your_ girlfriend.' Santo. 'That's right! I think she's bat-shit crazy, like that girl from _the Wedding Crashers_. I would never—' Julian.  
' 'He meant Sofia.' Josh."

Laura looked down, frowning. "What does 'bat-shit crazy' mean?" she asked. His tone hadn't been pleasant.

Cessily winced.

" 'Oh…' Julian. 'Who did _you_ think I meant?!' Santo. 'Oh my god—did you mean that creepy little girl who follows you everywhere?' Santo. 'Are you talking about X?' Josh. 'Yeah—she started a fanclub yet?'  
Santo. 'What's her damage anyway?' Santo."

Laura's voice wavered. " 'I have no clue. And she has some sick little obsession with me. It's like she's never _seen_ a guy before. I wouldn't mind if it was like, the Cuckoos or something, but damn…' Julian.  
'The Cuckoos are just hot.' Santo. 'Do you think X is hot?' Josh. 'Yeah—but that's about all there is to her is a pair of boobs, what an airhead. She's been here two months and she's said like three words.  
Probably 'coz she doesn't _know_ any more.' Santo. 'I was asking Julian.' Josh. 'Yeah. What Santo said.' Julian. 'I wish she would just leave."

Laura stared ahead, her face motionless.

"Oh, Laura…I'm so sorry," Cessily said. She hadn't thought they would be _that_ harsh—she stepped away from the fridge to comfort Laura. The girl's head snapped up, and she followed her gaze to the  
doorway—the culprit was standing there, looking surprised. "Oh—" he said.

Cessily gritted her teeth. "You little—"

Laura jumped off the counter, pushed Julian aside and ran up the stairs,.

"Jeez, what's _her_ problem?!" he asked, brushing his arm off where she'd touched him.

"_You!_ You're the problem, you gigantic butthole!" Cessily snapped. "She heard everything you just said!"

Julian glanced back the way she had run. "Oh. Wait—were you guys _eavesdropping?_ What the hell, Cess?"

"I don't know. What the hell, Julian?" she asked him in return. "Maybe my first impression of you was _right_. I'm starting to think that. OK, I can understand you don't want to date her…but you  
told her you could be friends. What kind of person says _that_ about their friends?"

"What kind of friend eavesdrops?" he asked, glaring.

"The kind that worries what that person is saying behind their backs, that's who," Cessily said. She brushed past him and stomped up the stairs after Laura. "Way to look after your friends, Julian."

"Wha—" he rubbed his face with both hands. "Cess! I wasn't trying to say bad stuff about _you!_ CESS!"

**…**

"Don't you have practice to go to, half-pint?" Logan grunted, catching a glimpse of Laura as she walked by the rec room. Or tiptoed, rather. With a bag. He sat up.

"Whoa. Where you think you're going?"

Laura turned her head. "I am leaving. Do not attempt to stop me, please."

"What the hell? Things are going great! I mean, yeah, some kids died, and yeah, you got attacked a few times…and nearly killed…but it's been clear waters and fine sailin' for a month now…I  
thought you were makin' some friends! Why would you go now?!" Logan had followed her to the hallway, his blue eyes furious.

"I do not know what 'friends' you are talking about," Laura said, pulling on her jacket, her backpack at her feet. Her expression was tense, angry. "I do not have 'friends' here. It is just  
another variation of the facility."

"—!—" Logan folded his arms. "Laura, you better explain this shit _right now_. SIT."

He nodded at the staircase.

"I am not a dog," Laura said coldly. She had seen her cousin, Megan, say this once. She had asked for and received an explanation; she felt comfortable to use this phrase to express herself.

Logan snorted. "Didn't say you were. But you're _my_ clone, and you're going to do what I say. Got it?"

Laura paused, considering. She could elude Logan if he attempted to restrain her; however, if he successfully got hold of her wrist, she'd probably have to cut her hand off to escape  
(his adamantium fingers were very strong). She was wearing a bracelet she did not want to lose. She looked down, irritated, then complied, making a big _huff_ noise as she sat down.

"Good girl." Logan nodded in approval. "Explain."

Laura folded her arms. "There is nothing to explain."

"Who's being a little snot to you? I thought I cleared the air when I said you could kill anyone who gave you trouble."

She gazed at him, expressionless.

Logan suddenly had a thought. He'd reared two girls through their teenaged years already—Jubilee and Kitty Pryde—and had been spending time with Hisako as she went through the  
trials and errors of being an X-man. These experiences had taught him…

"So, which one is he?" he asked dryly.

"I do not understand," Laura said.

"This is about a boy, isn't it? You have a crush on one of them."

Laura looked away. "Yes."

"Which one?" Logan growled. "Who do I have to fuck up?"

"'Fuck up'?" Laura asked.

"I'm going to whoop the shit out of that little turd. He's got about half a brain to turn you down. WHO IS HE?"

"…" Laura had not understand most of what Logan had said, but she got the gist of it—he was planning to physically harm her 'crush'. Her eyes widened. "I will not tell you."

Logan popped his claws. "Damnit, Laura! Come on…it's that Foley brat, ain't it? The golden boy? He thinks he's so smooth, tried to get away with—"

"No," Laura said.

"Alleyne?" Logan tried next. "Can't be—he's smart. _And_ he's halfway decent. The only one left is…" his eyes widened. "KELLER! It's Keller, isn't it?!"

Laura couldn't help flushing slightly. "No!"

"Grr…" Logan smelled her lie, and of _course_ he could hear her heart rate increase. "I'm gonna kill him! He's the cause of half the trouble at this school. I'm gonna enjoy it too…  
thinks he can mess around with my clone…"

Laura jumped off the staircase. "No! Please do not confront him! I will handle this myself." She had taken hold of Logan's wrist, her eyes beseeching.

Logan narrowed his eyes at her. "By running away?"

Laura looked down. "Logan…I do not belong here. I am not like the others."

"No. You're _better_ than them, Laura," he said. "But you and me…we need the others to exist. Trust me. I tried running…but it gets lonely, after a while. Out there. You'll miss all the good stuff."

Laura frowned. " 'Good stuff'?" she asked.

"Like getting to fight every day in the Danger Room. And having a real _bed_ to sleep in every night. And a shower. And people to talk to." Logan patted her shoulder. "Kid…stay."

"…" Laura nodded. "Okay."

"Good girl." He kissed the top of her head. "You want me to learn you how to ride a bike?"

"I can already ride a bicycle, and a motor cycle," Laura said. "I can also fly three different combat planes and drive standard vehicles. On one mission, I rode a tractor for 2.3 miles.  
It consumed twelve minutes of mission time."

"They didn't skimp, huh?" Logan grinned. "Well, you ain't rode a bike till you've rode _my_ bike. Trust me."

"Okay," said Laura again.

**…**

_Knock knock. _

Laura crept out of bed, thick with sleep. Sooraya was still out, going wherever she went on Saturdays; Laura had retired to her bed rather early. It was only six PM, but she'd felt  
quite worn from the day's 'emotional' events.

She hesitated, her hand on the doorknob, her nose full of scent. _Snff._ It was Julian; she could now hear him shifting on the other side of the door. After a moment of deliberation  
she opened it a bit and peered out.

"Hi," he said. She could only see one of his eyes through the crack in the door, and vice versa.

"Hi," she said.

He frowned. "Laura…what I said before…um, this morning…"

She watched him without blinking.

"I'm sorry," he finally said. "I didn't mean it…I don't know why I said that."

Laura closed her eyes.

"I don't agree with Santo," he continued. "I don't think you're an airhead."

"You don't?" Laura asked, confused.

"I was just…" he glanced away. "Can I come in? I feel stupid talking to the door."

She stepped back, and he pushed the door open. "Oh—" he stopped, seeing she was in her pajamas. A very thin tank top—and underwear. "I'm sorry—I'll come back later."

"Why? I will be asleep," Laura said, oblivious.

"Never mind." Julian tried to look away, at the floor—but the image seemed to be burned onto his retinas. "Uh, yeah, so...what was I saying?"

Laura took a breath. " 'I don't agree with Santo. I don't think you're an airhead. I was just…can I come in? I feel stupid talking to the door. Oh—I'm sorry—I'll come back later. Never mind."

Julian stared at her. "What the—" he suddenly understood the jokes that had been floating around the mansion, that Laura did great imitations. He repressed a shudder over the  
creepiness of seeing Laura copy him. "Okay. Anyways…it's kind of a guy thing…we're always like that. We talk about _everyone_ like that. If I had known you were listening…"

"That does not make it better," Laura said, turning away.

"I know—I'm sorry. I didn't mean it, okay?"

"Okay." Laura didn't sound convinced.

"Really."

"Okay."

"Laura…" he made to put a hand on her shoulder; she turned to face him at the same moment, and instead his fingers touched…something else. He jerked his hand back like it had  
been burnt, and he stared at her. "Sorry," he said after a second, his fingers flexing.

"It did not hurt," Laura said softly, her head tilted. It was the first time in her life that she'd been touched _there_ and hadn't instinctively wanted to severe the male's  
appendage to prevent a reoccurrence.

Quite the opposite.

_Snff_.

He swallowed. She was wearing so little—and she had just done that _thing_—and he had just touched her—and there was a _bed_—he glanced at it, and his eyes widened.

"You're _sleeping _with it?"

He didn't need to specify what _it_ was. Laura's eyes widened too, and she slipped past him, yanking her crumpled sheet up over the t-shirt.

"…no," she said guiltily. She didn't like volunteering information—facts like this, when revealed, were embarrassing—especially when she knew Julian's opinion on the matter.

"Laura—" he looked at her, and she didn't understand his expression. It was softer. Was it pity? She did not like pity.

"I do not wish to discuss this," she said firmly.

He rubbed his neck and looked down. "Okay." He backed up, towards the door. "So yeah, it was good talking. I'll—I'll see you at practice tomorrow, okay? And you're not mad, right?"

"Mad?" Laura asked, folding her arms. He stopped in his tracks, distracted.

"Don't do that," he said. She followed his gaze, confused. "Julian?"

"Sorry," he said again, breaking the stare. "Goodnight."


	6. number 1 Crush

**A/N: **Thanks for all the great reviews on this story! XD

**SONG TITLE: **#1 Crush by Garbage~check it out, totally a Laura song. Even when not in the context of Helix!

"I would die for you...I would die for you...I've been dying just to feel you by my side...to know that you're mine..."  
"I would twist the knife and bleed my aching heart...and tear it apart...I would kill for you...I would kill for you..."

 **Chapter 6 : #1 Crush **

* * *

Laura awoke to the sound of a jet leaving the Institute. The Blackbird. She leapt out of bed and ran to the glass pane, staring at the small black dot in the blue  
September sky. She was uneasy. The last time that dot had disappeared, she and the other New X-men had almost died.

She frowned, then tried to make herself relaxed. The X-men knew about combat—they would not leave the mansion unguarded.

**…**

English class. Laura opened the door to the empty classroom, disgruntled. She wasn't having that good of a day—a strap had broken on her boot, her hair had  
been tangled in the morning, she'd ripped pages in her book, and she'd been stabbed by a robot in the Danger Room in her solar plexus—three times. Then it had  
broken her nose, and it had healed crookedly. It now had that odd bump. She'd been distracted, allowing her mind to wander on the job.

And to add to the bad circumstances, she'd had this irritating sense nagging her all day.

She stomped to her desk, then threw her book bag down with a loud _thump_. It hit the edge and pencils spilled on the floor (of _course_ the pencil case had been open).  
Laura pushed back her hair, scowling. The door opened behind her just as she kicked her eraser, thoroughly annoyed; it was Julian, of course. He _always_ seemed to  
catch her at her most unflattering moments, like clockwork. Moments that highlighted her ineptness, either socially or performance-wise—this one just made her  
appear physically awkward.

"Aww, clone had a wittle accident?" he asked, grinning.

Laura looked away, biting her lip, then knelt and started picking up pencils.

_SHRRPT._ She fell back on her behind in surprise as the cylinders skitted across the wooden floor with a loud noise, then rose into the air in a neat line formation,  
surrounded by a green plasma-like energy. "There you go," Julian said as they gathered together a few feet from her face. Hesitantly she reached for them, a  
little uncertain. It looked like acid. The energy felt warm on her fingers, however, and caused no cellular decomposition.

"Thank you," she said, standing up and placing the pencils back in her bag.

"Don't mention it," Julian said dismissively, sitting down behind her again.

"Why not?" Laura wondered why he didn't want to talk about it. He seemed to like talking, a lot. She wished she understood half the things he said—the  
references, the informal speech.

"…" Julian reconsidered. "I meant, you're welcome."

"Oh." Laura sat down; her chair creaked loudly and she looked down in alarm. He snorted in laughter, and she felt her cheeks grow hot. She hadn't understood why  
she should be embarrassed, but his laughter was mocking. She didn't want him to _mock_ her—her feelings dictated that she wanted his admiration.

Which she was very far from having.

She sighed.

**…**

"LAURA!" Cessily jogged to catch up with the clone in the hallway, her book bag swinging. They had just left Biology class. "Anything new with Julian? I'm expecting his  
conscience to kick in any day now…"

"I do not wish to discuss this," Laura said firmly, her books pressed against her chest as she walked down the hallway, followed by Cessily. Several people bumped into her,  
laughing and talking; Cessily followed, undeterred. They turned down a deserted corridor.

"LAURA! Alright, he told me he talked to you! _What did he say?!_"

Laura shook her head. "I…" her expression changed suddenly, and she dropped her books. "No…no…NO!"

She had spotted a woman—all too familiar—at the end of the hall, holding up a test-tube with a grin. "Miss me, X?" she shouted, then threw the tube at Cessily.

"Ow! Hey! What the—" the tube had broken, the orange liquid it contained running down her silvery form.

Laura turned to Cessily, her eyes red.

**…**

Moments later, her vision cleared. "NO!" she gasped, looking around. Splats of silver were everywhere, all over her claws, the rug, the ceiling, the walls. Her clothes. Laura  
whirled around—Kimura was gone. "Cessily! CESSILY!"

"AHH!" Cessily's face reformed in a puddle under the table; it crawled forward, and the droplets slowly gathered back together.

"…" Laura backed away, her teeth gritted and her eyes wide.

"What the hell was that?!" Cessily gasped, now whole again.

"The trigger scent," Laura said fearfully. "Kimura is here. There are militants. In the school. We have to warn the others."

"…" Cessily grabbed her hand. "Come _on!_"

Laura raced after the other girl, their boots making dull thudding and squeaking sounds on the wooden floor. They screeched to a halt by the staircase, gasping for  
breath (even though Cessily didn't _need_ air).

"Come on, come on…" Cessily was on the first stair already. Laura paused to look around—there were a few students lying on the floor. She could hear their faint heartbeats—they  
were unconscious. She could also here the clomping of many booted feet on the stairs above them.

"No," Laura said, grabbing Cessily's wrist. "We need to go downstairs."

"But!"

"Follow." Laura pulled the other girl towards the emergency staircase. She knew its location because Logan had used it once, back in the days when she had stalked him. It  
would be prudent to utilize it now. They should avoid the elevators.

She pressed her fingers on precisely the spot he had used—162.5 centimeters up, 309.88 centimeters from the right corner of the hallway—and a section of several panels of  
the wooden planking slid in and over on concealed runners.

"Go!" Laura pushed Cessily down the stairs. "Find a way to contact the teachers."

"Wha—where are you going?!"

Laura turned. "There is someone I must find."

Cessily froze. "Ohmigod! No! I'm coming too!"

Laura slapped her palm on the control, and the door slid shut, cutting off Cessily's words to her. Even she couldn't hear what the girl was saying—the staircase was thoroughly  
sound-proof, so the girl's words were a faint hum.

She turned and ran down the hallway, towards the main staircase.

**…**

Laura crouched behind the statue, listening intently. The floor was devoid of lighter footsteps now; it was all the clumping of boots.

She knew Julian had been heading up to his room, having finished his classes, along with Santo and Josh. They'd been four minutes ahead of herself and Cessily; halfway up main  
staircase, when she'd been confronted by Kimura and had lost control. It had seemed like moments but she couldn't be sure of the accuracy—for all she knew it had been minutes. Hours.

There. A scramble of running footsteps—three sets, in the library. She crept towards the area, her claws still in. She liked to keep them retracted for the element of surprise, as  
well as the acceleration provided when they were released suddenly. She made it to the door without hazard, and stopped to listen, pressing herself against the doorway. __

Snff. Blood. Julian. Josh. And…

_SHLUNK! _She exhaled as five long _things _burst through her abdomen, then slid out. She pressed her palms to the wall to keep her balance as the wounds began sealing up; then she  
swung around the corner and met her opponent with her foot, popping the claw into her face.

"AHH!!" It was a woman, horribly thin, with straw-like hair and long, razor sharp metal-tipped fingers. She staggered backwards, a stream of blood flying from her nose and arcing  
through the air. She'd pulled back before the claw could penetrate her brain.

"Laura…" Weakly, from the corner. She glanced—it was Julian, and he was the source of the blood. His whole front. Her eyes shifted—a golden hand was sticking out of the next  
row of shelves, on the floor. She hoped it was still attached; it probably was—she didn't smell Josh's blood—

_POW!_ Laura staggered as an enormous encyclopedia was brought down forcefully against her skull. She whirled around, her claws coming out in time to meet the five  
razor-sharp fingers arcing down towards her neck.

_CLANG._ Her eyes widened—the fingers held, equally unyielding. The woman increased her force per square centimeter, pushing Laura's own hands down towards her throat.

"You have stolen my father's work too!" the woman shouted, her voice low and melodious. Laura suddenly pulled on her arm, jumping in the other direction; the woman  
tumbled to the floor with a surprised noise.

"Julian! Leave!" Laura crouched on the floor as the woman rolled away momentarily.

"Mmm…" his eyes were closing.

The woman leapt to her feet, her fingers snapping together.

"I know who you are," Laura hissed.

"You are a stupid child. I do not care what you know."

"You are Lady Deathstrike. You are a cyborg, with cybernetic devices fused to a biological system and an adamantium-bonded skeleton. Synthetic regeneration factor."

The woman smiled—a horribly wide smile that made her scars scrunch together.

"And _you_ have no right to the adamantium in _your_ body, little girl. DIE!"

She charged towards Laura, who leaned back on her hands and kicked the woman in the stomach, slicing vital organs with the claw; then she pushed herself forwards and plunged  
her hands into the temporarily gaping hole, ripping her claws upwards and out, along the path of the solar plexus There were clangs against Death's ribs as Laura's claws grazed them,  
traveling through the cartilage; she was too close to the woman for her overly-long claws to reach.

"AHHHCK—" Deathstrike gurgled. Laura's fists swung violently apart, between the clavicles, and then she parted the cybernetics in the shoulder joint.

_BANG._ Laura reeled backwards, her head spinning; Deathstrike had knocked her jaw against her head, and it seemed to be made of pure metal. She hit the floor, and the woman  
advanced again, her arms sparking at her shoulders.

"You…your strike barely drew blood," she sneered, although she was obviously seriously wounded. "Pathetic."

"I was not aiming for your blood," Laura said calmly.

The woman tried to lift her arms. "My cybernetics!" she exclaimed, sounding fearful for the first time.

Laura smiled slightly, her eyes gleaming. "And, consequently, your healing factor."

The woman backed away.

"You were dead the second you touched Julian Keller," Laura snarled. "Hup."

Julian raised his head. "Laura?" he asked faintly. Then he saw something _really_ scary—Laura was flipping over the woman's head—the crazy woman's head—like she didn't exist,  
her claws dragging through it. _Slash. Slish. Thud. _

He passed out.

**…**

"…" Laura considered the two unconscious boys before her. Josh had a concussion; Julian would die soon if he did not receive medical treatment immediately. There were  
no tools for a blood transfusion, and no guarantee that it would work. The best chance of his survival was waking Elixir.

She tried slapping him, she tried shaking him, she tried pouring water from a vase on his face, all to no avail. She was beginning to drag Julian out of the library when Josh  
coughed and wiped his face.

"What the—why am I wet?—OHMIGOD!" he sat up. "HOLY! OH WOW—" he'd just spotted Deathstrike's corpse on the floor.

"Josh, concentrate. Julian needs your help," Laura said firmly, lowering the boy again. "Come here."

"Oh god—" Josh scrambled to his knees unsteadily and stretched his fingers out. Laura grabbed his hand and pressed it to Julian's stomach, through the holes in his shirt that  
corresponded with Deathstrike's still-sparking fingers.

"UHH!" Julian sat up. "…" he, too, was staring at Deathstrike. Then he looked at Laura—obviously afraid all over again. She held her hands out to the boys. "We must leave. Now."

"We have to help the others!—Santo!" Julian said fearfully.

Laura shook her head. "They are not here. I believe they have been captured. We must leave, now, or be captured ourselves. The militants are searching for us."

Josh took her hand and heaved himself up.

"How do you know they're not here?!" Julian persisted. "Cessily! Santo! What about David and Nori? You just going to—"

"Cessily is safe. She is downstairs."

"Julian—your girlfriend just said they're _not_ _here._ I'm the one who got hit in the head—you're just fine." Josh rubbed his forehead.

"She is _not_ my girlfriend!" Julian said, choosing the simplest argument.

"Well, if you're not dating her, _I_ am," Josh said. "She's three kinds of awesome. Look at what she did to Ms. Freddy Krueger there!"

"…" Julian looked away.

"We do not have time for idle discussion," Laura said, walking away. Towards the door. Josh jogged after her and Julian scrambled up. "Wait for me!" he said, panicking;  
he caught up to them at the staircase and stuck quite close.

**…****  
**

" JULIAN! Oh thank god!" Cessily jumped up. She'd been sitting on the staircase, in the dark, exactly where Laura had left her. She ran up the few steps and hugged her friend.

"Where's Santo?!" she asked.

"They got him," Josh said, his voice small.

" Oh no…" Cessily pulled away and covered her mouth.

" We need to go. Head downwards. This passage connects to the X-wing transport hangar." Laura pushed on Julian's back, guiding him into the corridor; the door slid closed  
behind them, sealing the group in blackness.

" What about Santo?!" Cessily said.

"They're not here, Cess," Julian said quietly.

" OW!" Josh had missed a step. "Goddamnit! Aren't there any _lights_ for this place?" Josh asked.

Julian held up his hand and illuminated the way slightly with his powers. Cessily turned her head slightly in time to see him take Laura's hand in his free one, but did not  
comment, otherwise preoccupied.

The staircase finally led into a metal corridor with dim floor lighting. Laura looked to the right and saw a dead end; to the left, another dead end.

" Look," Julian pointed at a spot on the wall; a door was very faintly visible. The movement had broken his grasp on her hand, as he naturally used his left hand for gestures;  
he did not take it again. Laura hung back for a moment—she had enjoyed the feeling. She would ponder it later, she decided.

The boys set to prying the door open; finally Laura jammed her claw into the control panel, and it hissed apart, revealing a big metal X-door. She repeated the action; and  
when this slid aside, they could see into the X hangar.

And someone could see them.

" Hiya, X!" Kimura grinned, twirling a knife in her hand like a baton, then plunging it into the girl's stomach.


	7. state of emergency

**A/N: **An eventful chapter!

 **Chapter 7 : state of emergency **

* * *

" Did you think a trip to school would be complete without _you_?" Kimura asked, dragging the knife upwards. Laura's head snapped back as the woman grabbed  
her chin. "Oh, honey, and you brought your _friends_ for me too! How sweet! Let me reward you. GOOD CLONE!"

"AAAH!" Cessily had shot a knife-arm at Kimura, but it bounced off her back like it wasn't there—and the woman had flicked a cattle prong out of her belt and  
made contact with the metallic appendage.

"Here X. I'm gonna deal with your little troop. You have a rest meanwhile." Kimura wrapped an arm around Laura's torso—an arm around her neck—

_Snap. _

Laura fell to the ground, her eyes wide, her body paralyzed. "Urrkh…" the air left her lungs softly.

" LAURA!" A big green wave rushed over the floor and knocked Kimura into the wall; Julian followed it, his face contorted. "You fucking bitch! I'll…"

"Josh! Heal her!" Cessily shouted from the floor. She was still jerking from the energy Kimura had charged her body with—even Nimrod's blast hadn't equaled its force.

" You don't have the balls, kiddo," Kimura grinned, hanging upside down. " You just stand there and shake your finger while your girlfriend sits on the floor like an amoeba.  
Once I finish with you I'm gonna go back for _her_—and I'm gonna enjoy it, every finger I break."

_POW!_ She smacked the heel of her palm into Julian's face; he reeled backwards and she fell to the floor. She dusted herself off, then pulled a device out of her  
pocket—and removed a pin.

_**EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—**_

An incredibly loud siren went off, and all four held their ears in agony; Laura's spine had just knitted itself together.

"I _love_ telekinetics," Kimura said. "They're so overconfident! It's a useless power when you can't form a thought, isn't it?"

Laura rolled over and lunged at Kimura again, her ears and nose bleeding from the sound. "Clone—you're so dumb—you can't hurt me—"

_Clink._ The metal key ring on the device hooked around Laura's claws, and she jerked it backwards, so the dull side pulled it away; the device followed. She stabbed her claw into it.

"Julian! You have to kill her! You're the only one who can hurt her! Form a bubble in her heart—or her brain—"

"I'm not killing!" Julian shouted, slamming Kimura against the wall again.

Laura parted her lips to tell him how sick this woman was—how she deserved to die—_snff._ She inhaled through her nose, and suddenly her eyes went red.

Kimura grinned. "Stupid kids—think _I_ have to be free to hurt you."

Julian's eyes widened—Laura had just popped her claws, and was charging at him, her face wild, her teeth bared. "Holy—" he stretched out his left hand and Laura was swept  
upside down in a green net. Now he was restraining Kimura with one thought, and Laura with the other. His hands shook slightly at the split control.

"Oh man, oh man—" Josh looked at the two struggling women in midair in panic.

"What the hell are we going to do?! Kimura's _invulnerable_ and Laura won't stop till she cuts someone!"

"Or everyone's dead," Kimura pointed out.

"Well…do something soon…it's hard to think about two things at once…" Julian shifted, his leg cramping. He tended to get muscle cramps in odd areas if he overtaxed his powers in  
certain ways. "I see what Santo meant about his nose itching."

"Stop TALKING!" Cessily gasped. "CONCENTRATE!" She looked at Josh. "You _have_ to use your powers! It's the only thing we can do!"

Josh made a face, then he grinned suddenly. "I have an idea. Hold Kimura tightly, now."

**…**

"You gave her _Alzheimer's?_" Julian asked, watching the madwoman limp down the hall, pretending to be a duck.

" I'm not really sure," Josh said. "Could have been MS. Or Parkinson's. Or some weird combination of the three. Anyways, it did the trick…I can't guarantee it'll last, so we better  
figure out what to do with _her._" He nodded at Laura, who was still struggling in the green field, her eyes bloodshot red.

"…" Julian stared at her. "This sucks. I can't keep doing this all day. I have to sleep at _some_ point."

"Just stop talking, Julian!" Cessily said fearfully.

"Relax, Cess, I've—" Laura lurched forward an inch and he tightened his hold, his eyes wide. "Okay, okay…nothing happened, don't panic…"

"You could put her to sleep," Cessily said to Josh.

"I don't think so…I've never tried my powers on someone with a healing factor. Besides…Laura's our ticket out of here. _She_ can fly the X-wing, remember?"

"Oh look, it's Good News Foley," Julian grumbled, sitting on the floor to rest his legs as he watched Laura (who was glaring at him quite viciously).

Josh grinned. "You know, now that I really have a chance to _look_ at her without her knowing…she _is_ pretty hot. You sure you don't want her?"

"…" Julian rubbed his face with his free hand. "She's trying to fucking kill me. Right now."

"She's still hot," Josh protested.

"CONCENTRATE!" Cessily whapped him on the back of the head, her expression furious.

"Ow! Alright already." Josh made a face, rubbing the fresh injury.

They were silent for a few minutes. Then…

"Wait—when me and Laura were in the hallway, this same woman—Kimura—threw a bottle of liquid at us—and then Laura went nuts," Cessily said.

Josh snapped his fingers. "Trigger scents! I've _heard_ of this kind of shit…I used to be way into conspiracies and military stuff…they torture-train the operatives to respond  
to an olfactory stimulus." He looked at Cessily, and she nodded, thinking the same thing.

"Didn't—didn't Kimura _touch_ you before Laura went nuts, Julian?" she asked.

"Yeah…she did." Julian's eyes widened. "Ohhhh I get it. Got any water, or anything?"

"I do," Cessily pulled out a water bottle from her Hello Kitty backpack.

Julian took the bottle and poured it over his head, dousing his hair and forehead and anywhere Kimura might have touched. A moment later, Laura's eyes cleared,  
and her claws retracted.

"…" She stared at Julian, her lower lip trembling.

"Are you _done_ trying to kill me, now?" Julian hissed at her. "I mean, are you sure? Do you want to take a swipe or something before I put you down?"

She shook her head, and he dropped her roughly, in a bad mood now. This event had trudged up the bad dream quite vividly, the only difference being that Laura  
hadn't smiled—she'd looked different.

"We…we have to go," Laura said, regaining her composure.

"_I _wasn't the one taking five minutes to try to kill my friends," Julian snapped.

"It was…"

"Trigger scent, we know," Josh said. "Come on, let's get into that jet. It's only a matter of time before the basement gets searched."

" Yes," Laura answered curtly. They would be safer away from here. They made their way to the jet, and Julian, with Laura's guidance, got  
them in (rearranging circuits for the door systems).

They settled in the X-wing, strapping themselves into the bucket seats as Laura began to interface with the control panel; Julian had sat beside her, without  
being asked. They were going for the tunnel again.

" So—whoa whoa—what's the plan—we leave, and go where?" Cessily asked, her eyes wide.

"We can contact the X-men in the air," Josh said.

"There's always Forge, in Texas. We know how to get _there_, at least," Julian said. His voice sharp and irritated.

Everyone was scared—even Laura. Especially Laura. Three lives in her hands…she had nearly ended them. And if they were captured _she_ would be responsible…Julian  
would go to the horrible place that had made her…

She would rather kill him herself.

**…**

"He's not coming in," Cessily said, her eyes wide as she dialed the radio. "Forge isn't coming in. Guys, this is so wrong. What the hell is going on here?!"

"Maybe he's sleeping?" Josh suggested.

"At seven at night?" Julian, irritated.

"Hey, he's one of them old folks. I wouldn't be surprised. Or maybe Nimrod went back for more. He sounds like that type of guy."

"Josh, Nimrod is a _robot,_" Julian said. "You're such an airhead."

"And _you're_ turning into Alleyne," Josh shot back. "Relax. When you act uptight, you lose all your redeeming qualities."

" Hard to relax when I'm sitting beside someone who tried to kill me—oh, I don't know—JUST AN HOUR AGO!"

" Julian, I am not going to kill you now," Laura said calmly.

" _Now,_ like it was okay to try _then_," Julian grumbled.

" That is not what I meant."

" CONCENTRATE!" Cessily said. "You guys are flying this plane! Please put aside your petty arguments until we're on the ground!"

"…what she said," Josh nodded in agreement.

"_Petty,_" Julian sneered, but he didn't say anything more.

**…**

" Guys…let's just stay somewhere for the night, and figure this out in the morning," Josh said. " I'm tired…I still have a concussion…my head's killing me…and I've  
seen a bit more violence today than I can handle."

Laura glanced at Julian. "He is right. Josh needs to rest, or he could suffer permanent neurological damage. He should not have walked after his injury."

" Didn't have a choice," Josh said. He was holding his head; and Julian sighed. He'd been hit—_hard_—and he'd seen it; Lady Deathstrike had lobbed him in the head with  
Professor Xavier's antique Bible—made with wooden covers—so hard that he'd just toppled over, instantly unconscious.

" Julian…" Cessily.

" Alright, alright."

**…**

"We need to pool our money," Julian said. "It's one hundred and sixty three dollars for two beds." They had parked the X-wing in a field four blocks from the hotel,  
and Julian (looking and acting the most normal of the four) had gone to get the keys from the desk. "And we're going to have to sneak _you_ two in, somehow."

Julian had learned the hard way, at an airport, that Cessily wasn't welcome at many establishments. He was willing to bet that Josh wasn't, either. It made him  
angry—but he didn't exactly have lawyers to back him up now.

They finally settled for Laura opening the room and the balcony door, while Julian flew them up outside, using Laura as a marker so he didn't accidentally pick the  
wrong room (and cause a _really_ awkward situation).

**…**

"Laura?" Julian poked his head out of the room, around one o' clock. Josh and Cessily were bickering about the sleeping arrangements—there were two beds; Josh  
didn't want to sleep with Julian, and Cessily didn't want to sleep with Josh _or_ Julian, leaving Laura as her only choice. Josh had tried to suggest that she would be  
fine sleeping on the floor—being made of metal—but Cessily had taken much offense to this, and Julian had jumped into the argument to complain about how no one  
had wanted to sleep with _him_. Laura had left at that point, stepping out onto the balcony, and had not returned since. It had been an hour, and the other two  
were already settled.

She didn't answer. He stepped out onto the balcony and folded his arms against the cold breeze. He didn't have a jacket.

" Look…I…" he frowned. "I know you didn't mean what you did, earlier. Josh said something about a trigger scent."

Laura didn't answer. He reached out, then laid his hand on her shoulder, wondering how she could stand out here—in a tank top—and not be freezing cold. At least  
he had a t-shirt _and_ an undershirt—and he was _still_ shivering.

"You are not safe with me," she said, her voice low and strained.

"I think _I_ handled it just fine, thanks," Julian said, a little annoyed. It was odd—she'd just admitted to what he'd been afraid of all the long—and he was now taking  
the opposite view. "Despite what everyone seems to think, I can take care of myself. And my friends."

Laura turned to him, and he was surprised to see she was crying. He could see the wet streaks quite clearly in the dim moonlight.

"You do not understand!" Laura said fiercely, her hair flying up as the breeze changed direction. "All it takes is a scent, and I lose control! I have killed hundreds of  
people because of this scent!" She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and pushed it off her shoulder. "You have no idea what kind of brutalities the facility  
is capable of."

Julian scowled. "And what's that? What's more horrible than what I've seen already? Laura—forty-three of my friends are dead. I watched them all die, and I nearly  
died several times myself. I don't think your facility can _do_ anything worse."

Laura stared. She did not have words to express the facility anymore. She did not know how to tell him.

"Why are you speaking to me?" she asked instead. "You are still afraid, more so than before. You may go inside—I will be fine."

Julian looked down. "Laura—there's something I really, really want to do…that I was thinking about when the crazy finger lady made a shish kabob out of me. But…"  
he found her eyes again. Laura understood this look—confusion. She was only too well acquainted with this state of mind. "…if I do it, can you…not look into it too  
deep? Not expect anything? I…I don't know what I want."

Laura watched him, one eyebrow raised. His heart rate had increased—he seemed nervous, suddenly. "What do you mean, Julian?" she asked.

"Just don't expect me to do it again. Or try to make me. Or go all crazy on me, or anything, 'coz I won't commit. Promise?"

"Okay." Laura said the word, but she didn't really understand what he meant.

"Okay." He shifted uncomfortably; his face turned red, then he turned away. "I can't fucking do it! Now there's too much pressure." He walked to the railing and  
leaned over it, his expression brooding. "Hrumpf."

Laura stood in place, trying to understand. A breeze wafted her hair away from her face; she closed her eyes. _Snff_.

Julian turned his head to look at her. "Do it again," he said, his voice hoarse.

_Snff. _Laura was happy to comply; his scent was particularly attractive at this moment, after his heart rate had increased. It was like flower in bloom to a bee  
(although it seemed odd to compare Julian to a flower); almost against her will, she stepped closer and inhaled again. _Snff. _

He leaned back on the rail, on his elbows, watching her. His eyes were glassy, she noted with her excellent night vision. Pupils dilated by one millimeter, heart rate  
increased by twelve beats per minute. Thirteen. She tilted her head, beginning to understand. He wanted…she moved closer and smelled him, right at the hollow  
where his throat met his chest.

"Laura…" one of his hands, his left, departed from the railing, touched her jaw. She pressed her fingers against his stomach, hesitantly. She wasn't sure it was  
really okay to touch him—that he wouldn't snap at her, tell her mean things and physically remove her hands from his person. He let them stay, though,  
watching her—she realized he was just as curious as _she_ was. He leaned forwards hesitantly—she wasn't quite sure what he was doing; he had to guide her  
jaw to meet him. Oh. _That._ She closed her eyes—it felt very good. Soft. Warm. He brushed the side of her face gently, like he was petting her.

Laura hadn't ever kissed anyone before—at least, not like this. Two men in her "job" had forced her before, and it had hurt. And repulsed her. She had always  
tried to avoid it—everything else she had done—the cutting—the—rest—had been more tolerable than letting someone else apply their mouth to her. She was  
a mutant with extremely enhanced senses, which meant she could feel everything threefold—taste everything, smell everything.

And her clients _had not_ been clean.

This—this was different—she was almost tranced, relaxed; her senses didn't matter. Or they made it better—she could feel every pressure acutely. There was more  
now—and he was moving. She moved back to meet him.

Julian pulled away, breathing hard. "Wow," he said. His hands had slipped down to her shoulders, and he considered her carefully. "That was…that was hot."

Laura tilted her head. Hot—yes, heat was one of the feelings she felt in this interaction.

"We should…we should go back in," Julian said. His voice was hoarse. He backed up, and his fingers found the door handle.


	8. worlds of guilt

 **Chapter 8 : worlds of guilt **

* * *

"What's the plan?"

The four students were sitting in a diner, over pancakes (although Cessily did not have a plate). Laura kept glancing up from her stack to Julian—to find him  
glancing at _her_. Then they would both look away, embarrassed at being caught.

"_I _think we should wait for the X-men to find us," Josh said in answer to Cessily's question, his mouth full of syrup.

" We can't afford that," Julian pointed out. "We're almost out of money already. Besides, what if they _captured_ the X-men?"

"Or terminated them?" Laura added.

There was a grim silence.

" They can't have," Cessily said. "T-they just can't have."

" It wouldn't make sense," Julian said, wrinkling his nose. "They were capturing students. It's some sort of testing facility."

"_My_ facility."

Three pairs of eyes turned to Laura. Julian suddenly understood what she had been speaking about the other night—or had an inkling that he did.

" Your facility?" he asked.

Laura set her fork down. It clinked on the plate. "H.Y.D.R.A…where I was created, from the X chromosome of Weapon X's DNA." She paused. "Where I was trained.  
Where the trigger scent, and Kimura was created."

" The trigger scent—" Julian.

"When exposed to trigger scent, I enter a catatonic state. When I wake up, everything is dead. I am unaware of what occurs during this lapse in my consciousness,  
but I assume it involves my claws."

"Mmm." Cessily, her eyes wide.

" How did they—" Josh.

"The conditioning began early, at eight years," Laura said calmly. "I was subjected to different kinds of water torture—water boarding, water dunking, Chinese water  
torture, forced ingestion to cause hemolysis of red blood cells, and a water dungeon, for two months—with the trigger scent in place of water." She paused. "The ordeals  
were usually accompanied by other methods of cellular damage."

Three pairs of eyes continued to stare at her.

" Laura—" Cessily said.

"The trigger scent, in itself, is harmless," Laura said, attempting to lighten her words somewhat. "It is a chemical composed of oxygen, hydrogen, and traces of phosphate,  
in a proportion of which I have never discovered."

Silence.

"That's…that's horrible," Julian said, his face pale.

"Pretty much what I expected," Josh commented.

" Laura, you poor thing!" Cessily said, her eyes wide.

Laura looked at her plate, feeling uncomfortable. Her claws slid up and traced the skin of her upper arm, under the table.

" What about Kimura?" Josh asked. "Who is _she?_ Are there more of her?"

" No," Laura said. "Kimura was created to be my handler. She punished me when I disobeyed, or when I failed to complete all mission objectives within the allowed  
twenty-two minutes."

" Oh my god," Cessily said.

"…we've got to get our friends _out_ of there," Julian said, not knowing what to say in response to Laura's story. It was a little much for him—he'd only heard rumors of this  
kind of thing, about Mr. Logan. He suddenly wondered about her claws—her skeleton—did that happen to her, too? " We can't wait for them to find us."

He shuddered, and glanced at Laura again, who misinterpreted this as disgust towards her. She dragged her claw deeper.

**…**

"I will go, and interrogate suspects for the location of the detaining facility," Laura said, tightening the bracer on her wrist. They were at the X-wing, which had a cloaking  
device hiding it from view, in an empty weed-filled lot with a 'for lease' sign. "You three will stay here. I will return by nightfall with our location."

" Like hell!" Julian snarled. "I'm not sitting around and doing nothing! I'm coming with you!"

" No," Laura said.

" Us too!" Josh said.

" No," Laura repeated.

Julian looked over his shoulder at his friends. "She's right—you're staying. I don't want anything happening to you. But me…" he lifted Laura up into the air with him,  
even as she shouted "No!"

" _Yes,"_ he said firmly. "I'm _going_—do you understand?"

"…" They were twenty, thirty feet in the air now. He caught her around the waist.

" Yes," Laura said, her voice quieter.

" Good. Where?"

"The docks. The facility must have set up an enterprise in the New York area, for convenience." She gripped the collar of his uniform as they entered transit, slightly  
fearful of the speed. It was like being blown out of a cannon.

**…**

" Mmm, great," Josh said, watching them leave. " Lookit that—he's holding her! He's so messed up, he says he's not dating her, and yet…"

Cessily smiled slightly. "Come on…let's go sit in the X-wing. We can keep trying to get in touch with the X-men."

" I guess," Josh said, annoyed.

**…**

"Here," Laura said suddenly. "Put me down. Wait for me on the street corner."

" No!" Julian said, his eyes glowing. "I'm _helping!_ They're my friends, Laura, and my teachers! I'm not sitting around and letting you do all the work!"

" Julian…you will not be safe," Laura said firmly as he set them down. "You do not know what to do in this situation. These are dangerous men. I…I do not want you  
to be hurt." She hesitated, then touched his face.

He grabbed her wrist and glared at her, then forced it away. "I can take care of myself. I'm not made of toothpicks. Tell me what you want me to do."

Laura hesitated.

"Alright…"

…

Julian covered his mouth as she shot—_shot_—a man in the head, her expression neutral. Like she had been turning off a light, instead of pulling a trigger. After she had  
agreed with the man. He ripped the gun out of her hands, his face pale, regretting ever giving it to her.

" Why did you do that?!" he demanded, holding the gun out of her grasp. She tilted her head at him, looking annoyed.

" Because he did not have anymore information," she said.

" But you didn't have to _kill_ him!" Julian said fiercely.

" Yes, I did. He works for the facility. He deserves to die." Laura said the words calmly, oh-so-calmly. His neck prickled again.

" No more killing, do you hear me?" Julian shook his finger in her face. " We'll—we'll shake down your contacts, we'll find out where they're operating—but no more  
killing, do you understand me?"

Laura's eyes slid shut. "Yes," she said.

" Well…good." He shifted.

_Snff._ He saw her nose twitch—something else twitched, despite the seriousness of the situation, despite the man lying dead at their feet. Julian looked away, angry  
at himself. This was—this was wrong. He picked her up again (mentally, not wanting to touch her at the moment), and they were off again.

**…**

"Where is the facility?" Laura asked the man tied in the chair, her skirt whisking around with her movements. She'd apparently had a civilian outfit in her book bag;  
Julian was starting to think she slept with her eyes open, as well. She was ready for _everything._

The skirt was really, really distracting. Almost as distracting as the shirt, tied in the middle. Why did everything she wore rival Emma Frost's outfits? Julian leaned on the doorframe.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man said. He was staring down her shirt too. She pulled his still-burning cigarette from the ashtray and pressed it to his forehead. It hissed.

" AIEEEE!" the man screamed.

Julian tried not to react, knowing pain was necessary to extract information.

She threw away the cigarette, sat on the man's lap, and held her fist to his throat. Her claws began pushing up the skin on her knuckles. "Where is the facility?" she asked  
again. The man swallowed, the action pressing his throat against the point. "Uhh—"

_Snff._ Laura leaned forwards and sniffed the man.

Julian folded his arms. Was he…no, absolutely not. He didn't want to go down that path…the man was a _hostage_…he wasn't jealous. Absolutely not. He looked away, for a  
moment—_snikkt_—_crash—_" WHERE IS THE FACILITY?" Laura shouted. He whipped his head around—she was holding the man out of the window, quite a few stories up.

"I DON'T KNOW!" the man screamed. Laura let go.

" DAMMIT LAURA!" Julian pushed her aside, hurled himself out the window after the man. He was almost at the pavement already—he barely caught him before he hit, the  
ground inches from Julian's nose when he pulled up.

" WHAT DID I SAY?!" he shouted, floating in front of Laura again, furious. She smiled slightly at him, holding the edge of the windowsill, her bag in the other hand.

" I said no more killing! You PROMISED!" Julian continued.

" He is not dead, you saved him," Laura said. Her eyebrow was raised.

" This isn't funny, Laura!" Julian put his hands on his hips. "I'm not going to help you anymore if you keep doing this. I won't be around you." He stared at her hard.

"I'll take back my shirt," he hissed.

Laura's eyes widened.

" Okay," she said, meaning it this time.

Julian made a motion like throwing a baseball, and the man skidded on his behind back into the office. "Sorry about that, man," he said, then swept Laura off  
the ledge and took them back into the air.

**…**

"What are we going to do now?" Julian asked, dangling his feet over the dock, beside Laura. Dusk was falling, and they _still_ had no new information. "Your contacts  
know nothing…we can't go back to the mansion…"

Laura stared into the water. "This is my fault," she said. "I should have left the mansion. Now your friends will never be the same."

Julian looked at her, then put his hand over hers, and he smiled slightly. "I know this isn't exactly reassuring, at the moment…but they're _your_ friends too, Laura," he said.

" And no, it's not just your fault. You didn't make them like that—the people who did this to you. If it's your fault, then it's _my_ fault, too."

Laura tilted her head, her ear against her shoulder, and she looked at him shyly.

"Thank you," she said, her voice small.

"Don't mention it," he said again. He hesitated, then put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him. They watched the sunset for a while, each lost in their own worlds of guilt.


	9. you are the master

**A/N: **Yay, fanfic is having troubles uploading things. Not to worry--I am too smart to be impeded by petty problems! Here I offer another chapter of Snff. Sorry it took so  
long to get out, but I had a patch were I didn't know how to connect the ending with what I had already written. It has been completed now. Here y'go--chapter 9.

Oh and PS'es...I have another story all lined up with several chapters written once Snff is completely posted ;-) it's DANANANA House of M.

Ohh and by the way...the title of the chapter comes from Bif Naked's song, _**You are the master**_. Pretty awesome...

"I guess you are the master/ I am the dog/ I am the dog". Totally Helix.

* * *

** Chapter 9 : you are the master **

* * *

"There is one more person we can try," Laura said finally. "One person will know. I do not like to use this source."

Julian frowned. "Who?"

" Wilson Fisk," Laura said. "The Kingpin. He owes me a favor. This will use the favor-we will no longer have an imbalance in our business relationship."

"_KINGPIN?" _Julian blinked. "Laura-you can't be serious. The Kingpin owes _you_ a _favor_? How do you even _know_ him?"

Laura looked at the harbor again. A boat was passing in the distance, its sail gently curved in the breeze. "I have killed for Fisk," she said. "The first time was

under contract of the facility-the others were a favor to him, on my own."

" You-you were an assassin?" Julian had suspected something of the sort, but he'd preferred to ignore it. Yet, here it was-undeniably clear. His neck  
prickled again, and he almost pulled his arm away from her shoulders.

" Yes," Laura said simply. She looked away. She could feel how tense Julian was now-he was afraid of her. He was disgusted. He was...

"Come on," Julian said, getting up. " We're going to go to Kingpin-and get your favor. And save our friends. Everything else is water under the bridge, right?"

**...  
**

" Stop right there, boy," the guard at the door hissed, pressing the barrel of his gun into Julian's cheek. "I'll blow your brains out. What do you think you're  
doing here?"

Laura glared at the guard. "Release him. We are here to see Wilson Fisk," she said firmly. "I am X-23. He knows me."

"Boss said no one was to come in!"

"Please tell him I am here, with a friend." She stared the man down; he nodded to the other guard, who left the room. He returned shortly, and nodded back to  
the original man.

" Well?" he demanded, his gun pushing further into Julian's cheek and forcing the flesh up. The boy gave him an annoyed glance, but was silent, as per Laura's  
instructions of earlier.

" He said...let them in," the man said nervously. The first guard glared at Julian, then pulled his weapon away and slid it back into its holster. "Fine. Go." He  
nodded towards the door.

Julian followed Laura into a white-carpeted office, rubbing his cheek. There was a circular imprint there.

There was a fire, in a brick fireplace, on one side of the room, surrounded by bookcases in heavy oak wood. On the other end, a very heavy-set bald man sat  
at a very elegant desk, with elaborate statuettes and golden pencil cups supporting expensive fountain pens. There was an expanse of white carpet in  
between, which reminded him of the Sahara desert.

Laura stood in the middle, silhouetted by the firelight. Julian stood behind her, studying Fisk. He'd heard so much about this man-from his parents, from the news,  
from the X-man. And here he was-in the impressive flesh. He was wearing a white suit, and eating mixed nuts from a china bowl.

"X-23," he said. He had a deep voice, but it was smooth and finely accented. Julian couldn't place it, but it had hints of English, New York,  
and something else-possibly Asian?

"Kingpin," Laura said calmly, her voice even.

Fisk studied her calmly. "My top assassin," he said. "Do you seek employment again? There is always a place for you here."

Julian stiffened. 'Top' assassin?

" No," Laura said. "I have come to collect my favor."

" Ah." _Crunch crunch_ as he ate a nut. A macadamia nut, big and oily and expensive, like him. "You continue to impress me...most people who come to ask for  
favors snivel and beg. Like your companion."

" I'm not-" Julian spoke up.

" Be quiet, Julian." Laura held up her hand. "He does not concern you." She paused, formulating her thoughts. She didn't want Julian involved in this-the Kingpin  
was dangerous territory, and could be quite effective at making people do what he wanted them to do. She was angry at herself for bringing him.

"You do not scare me, Fisk. You have an empire, and money, and lawyers, yes, but I can kill you before your finger could press the security button under the  
edge of your desk. I do not wish to. You already know this."

Fisk smiled-odd for someone who had just been threatened. "Yes, I do. Good memories, good times. Aside from that-I respect you. I wish you would  
reconsider your decision to leave. What do you need, Laura?"

Julian swallowed.

"The H.Y.D.R.A. facility responsible for my creation has recovered," Laura said. "They have established another base, here in New York. The Institute which I attend  
was attacked, and many of my friends and teachers were abducted. You are the last person I have tried to obtain the location of this base from."

Frisk picked up a walnut, still in its shell, then bit through it. He removed the nut and discarded the shell into the trash can beside him.

" You should have come to me first," he said admonishingly.

" I did not wish to collect my favor until it was absolutely necessary." Laura said. "It is absolutely necessary now. Too much time has passed since the abduction; if  
I do not act soon, they will have time to conduct experiments."

Fisk nodded.

" Yes. I do know of a facility that has been recently developed-a mutant experimental lab, operating under the cover of an RX lab named Biovail Pharmaceuticals. It has  
been open since two months ago, and is located on Bayswater street, on the East Side." He paused. " You may consider your favor unfulfilled. A trifle of information is  
hardly equal to my debt to you."

" Thank you," Laura said, turning to go.

"Keep in touch," Fisk called.

**...**

Laura turned to Julian, outside the building again. "Do you know where this Bayswater street is?" she asked him.

"...let's buy a map?" he suggested. "And, what the hell was that, Laura? His ' top assassin'? He was treating you like you were his daughter or something!"

" Julian...the less you know, the better," Laura said. "For your safety."

" Alright, alright," he said, following her down the street. There was a corner store there; she held out her hand. Julian rolled his eyes and dug in his jacket pocket.

"You only want me for my money," he said, curling his lip.

"Yes," Laura said. She smiled slightly.

**...**

In the corner store, as she was picking out the map, Julian stood in front of a certain rack that he'd never considered before, his hands in his pocket. He debated  
buying a box while she was otherwise occupied.

" What are you doing?" she asked over his shoulder.

" Uhh-" Julian didn't have an answer. He flushed, very conspicuously.

Laura considered him, then picked up a box. "These would fit you," she said. He stared at her. "What-"

"According to your height, your weight, your build, and the size of your digits, I can roughly estimate any other part of your body. I have not seen you naked."

She handed the box, the money, and the map to Julian. He took them, swallowed, then went to pay.

**...  
**

" JULIAN!" Cessily shrieked, jumping out of the X-wing as he and Laura landed once again in the seemingly deserted lot. It was a strange effect, how she  
suddenly partially appeared in mid-air.

" Ohmigod! What took you so long!" She flung herself at Julian in a bear hug. "I was so worried! I thought-"

" You should have _heard_ her," Josh said, his head sticking out of the X-wing. "With each hour, she got more morbid. Around sunset she was considering if  
you wanted an open or closed casket funeral."

"I was not!" Cessily snapped.

"..." Julian grinned slightly. "Good news...Laura found out where the facility is. We even remembered to get a map." He brandished it, and Cessily grabbed it.

" Yay!" she said. Josh reached over and pulled a receipt sticking out of the top. "XXX product- map $4.99," he read out loud. "Trident spearmint  
grn $0.99. Trojan assorted $6.99."

"..." Julian turned red.

" OHMIGOD!" Cessily squealed.

"NO!" Julian said, alarmed. He wasn't even sure _why_ he'd bought them-but he certainly didn't want his friends to know-and he _definitely _didn't want Cessily  
to start making assumptions.

" Way to go, man," Josh grinned. He arched his eyebrows at Laura.

" Nothing's happened!" Julian hissed. "Just shut up!"

Laura watched them, smiling slightly. She didn't know why, but she found his embarrassment amusing. She wondered what his plans for the box were-was he  
hoping to use them with her? His recent behavior was suggestive of that.

"Laura! Did you-" Cessily asked.

"_You _get in the plane!" Julian snarled, pushing her towards the X-wing.

**...  
**

"I found it!" Cessily said, pointing at _Bayswater street_on the map spread out between Julian's and Laura's seats.

Laura nodded. "That is approximately 43.9350912 kilometers north and 14.484096 kilometers east of this location. I will program the coordinates into the X-wing."

She reached up and tapped something into an overhead panel.

" Kilomo-whatsit?" Julian asked.

Cessily rolled her eyes. "It's metric, stupid!" she said. "It's only the world's standard unit of measurement."

" I know that," Julian said, irritated. "I was asking her why she was using it. I don't know how much that is in miles."

" 27.3 miles north, and 9 miles east," Laura said, pulling back a lever and switching on the ignition. The X-wing began to hum to life. "Kilometers are more accurate.  
I did not realize you find it difficult to perform conversions."

"..." Julian sighed.

**...  
**

_**KA-BOOOOOOOOOM!!!**_

The facility's workers looked into the sky as the ceiling exploded in green, revealing four mutants. One had glowing green eyes, and was baring his teeth-he  
seemed to be in charge of the attack.

"SECURITY!" a scientist shouted into his communications device. "KIMURA! Security breach in building one!"

**...**

Julian set them down, keeping all the scientists pressed against the walls. "Knock yourselves out, guys," he grinned. "These are the people that hurt our friends."

"ARRRRGH!" one screamed to his left. Blood flew by him in an arc, and he heard the sounds of Laura's claws sliding through flesh. Carving.

"OHMIGOD, Laura!" Cessily shouted.

" He is not dead," she said, holding her fist in front of her face and withdrawing her claws. She opened her fingers and backhanded the man in the face. " Where are  
the X-men?" she asked. The lacerations she had made weren't serious-superficial.

" NNnggg!" The man made a noise, then spat in Laura's face.

"Hey!" Julian grabbed him by the collar, drew back his fist, and punched him in the stomach. "Watch it, or I'll put it back where it came from! Now you better tell us  
what you know, or-"

" Or what?" a vaguely familiar voice said, sounding amused. Horribly familiar to Laura. The teens turned. Kimura, holding a weapon. Josh fell to the floor with a dull thump.

" I'm a big man...with a big gun," she quoted. "You're right...put the spit back. X doesn't deserve to wear human spit-she's not worthy."

She took aim-_**BLAM**_. Julian had been shielding them but the bullet went right through and hit him in the stomach, blasting a large hole. "AGGH!" he threw back his  
head and stumbled into the wall.

"JULIAN!" Cessily yelled.

"Like it? It's new." Kimura grinned. "Special bullets. All sorts of fancy shit...including bullets with their own energy signatures...and they're adamantium tipped. Can put  
a hole in just about anything." She tilted the muzzle-_**BLAM**_. Cessily gaped at the hole in her stomach before it sealed up again.

" Hmm. Methinks I should take out golden-boy first, for maximum fun," Kimura said. "Scratch that. You know what would make this really fun? She fished a glass  
tube out of her utility belt. Trigger scent. Laura's eyes widened.

" NO!" she pleaded.

Kimura threw the vial up in the air, at the teens, took aim-blam. A mist of trigger scent rained over Julian, Laura and Cessily, the contents scattering everywhere.  
Laura looked at Julian, her eyes apologizing, then she inhaled. _Snff_. Her eye whites faded behind a veil of red, and her claws slid out.

"Have fun!" Kimura laughed. She picked up Josh by his wrist and slapped a handcuff on it.

" JULIAN!" Cessily shouted. "You have to shield us!"

"Ughh..." Julian opened his eyes sleepily. Laura was advancing, her teeth bared.

" O-ooh, shit," he said.

Laura snarled and swiped at him; he jerked away, just barely. The tips caught his cheek and sent a splatter of blood through the air. He swept her away with  
a thought, his other hand holding his stomach. "Cess...I'm...I'm not feeling too good..." he groaned. "You're gonna...gonna have to..." his green aura faded, as  
the blood loss and shock began to become too overwhelming. He sank to his knees, and Cessily ran towards him, too late.

" RRRRrrrn!" Laura pounced on him like a wolf, knocking him to the floor. She grabbed him by the back of his spiky hair, pulling his head back as she placed her  
claws to his throat to slice his head off-_snff._ She stopped, leaned forwards. _Snff_. She blinked, then licked his throat.

Cessily watched, confused, and Julian's eyebrows drew together.

" Kimura..." he said. "Kill Kimura."

"HRRrrrk," Laura growled, letting him go, and turned to the woman, her mouth open and her eyes furious.

Kimura looked slightly afraid. "What the-"

" NNNYARRRRGH!" Laura was a blur, spinning through the air. Slash. Slash. Slash. Bits of Kimura's clothes flew off; the chain attaching her to Josh broke; she  
stumbled against the wall and Laura followed, stalking her like a dog crazed.

" Josh!" Cessily scrambled forwards and pulled him into a sitting position, slapping his cheek. "Wake up! You have to heal Julian again!"

"..." Josh's eyes opened. "What-oh, man..." he crawled towards his friend, who was again lying with his stomach blown open. It was quite nasty-a little bit of  
his organs had spilled out. Josh pressed them back in, shuddering at the feel, then healed the wound shut.

Julian coughed and sat up. "Uh, thanks," he said.

" No problem, bud," Josh said. "Wouldn't want you to die before you got a chance to use your purchase. What's with your girl, anyways?"

Julian flushed. "There's trigger scent everywhere," he said. " I told her to kill Kimura."

"What the-why did she listen this time?!" Josh asked.

"She did something really weird-she smelled him...then she licked him, like a dog," Cessily said.

" Kinky," Josh commented.

"ARRGH!" Laura was bashing Kimura's head into the wall, her claws beating a rhythm on her skin. They refused to penetrate, but Laura was far too viper-like  
in the state she was in for Kimura to resist her attack.

"Julian! You have to do something!" Cessily said. " You or Josh!"

" I'm not-I'm never using my powers that way again!" Josh protested.

" Seems wrong," Julian said. "Seems unfair-using my powers to kill someone." He stood up, moved a few steps, picked up a gun on the floor. Kimura's gun.

"Wasn't she just bragging about how her bullets could pierce anything?"

He turned to where Laura and Kimura were scrabbling.

"You-you're never going to hurt my friends again," he said to Kimura, the gun pointed at her head. "You're never going to touch her again. Laura, down, girl."

Laura 's claws withdrew with a snkkt and she crouched. He rolled back the hammer of the gun, then his finger pressed the trigger lightly.

_**BLAM.**_

Cessily covered her mouth.

Kimura reeled back, a hole in her forehead. Her head hit the wall and she slid to the floor, leaving a trail of blood leading down from the big splat.

Julian shoved the gun in his belt. "Laura..."

She stood, her eyes still red. Her lip curled, but her claws were contained in her hands. She waited.

"I don't think she'll hurt us," he said after a second of studying her. "We need to get out of here. And wash all the scent off. She's pretty scary  
right now. Laura, come here."

She complied.

" Oh, wow. I think you're her master," Josh said, grinning. "Creepy!"

"Shut up," Julian said. Laura snarled at Josh and popped her claws. "No! Laura!" He grabbed her wrist and shook his finger in her face. Her eyes  
followed his finger, and the snarl faded. _Snff_.

"Good thing I used to have a dog," Julian said grimly. "Least she can still help us. Come on...we've got X-men to find."

**...**

The four teens travelled down the corridors, searching for their friends. They finally reached a room, sealed with an enormous, circular metal door.

" I can't...Laura! Break it!" Julian pointed at the disc in the center; Laura popped her claws and jammed them into the target, sliding them upwards.  
There was a giant spark and they slid apart.

" Oh, hell," Julian gasped. They were looking into an enormous chamber of gurneys-some of the students and teachers were stretched out,  
unconscious. Dead? The teens weren't sure.

"Wonderful!" a voice said over a loudspeaker. "Smithers, release the hounds."

Glowing, at the end of the darkened room. Glowing eyes. Laura crouched, her claws sliding out again. All of them.

Julian made fists as he shielded them. "Josh! You work on getting the teachers up, then the other kids! Cessily, Laura-you help me distract whatever this is!"

"Hrrrk," Laura snarled. Three enormous things-four-were lumbering towards them, on all fours. The dim light cast itself on their forms-fleshless beasts  
with sharp, gleaming teeth. And lots of saliva.

" AHHH!" Cessily screamed as one launched itself on her and bit into her arm, shaking its head.

" CESS!" Julian fired off a bolt at the beast, slamming it into the ceiling. "Laura-get it!" He pointed at the thing lumbering towards him. Laura met it with  
a foot claw in midair, over his shoulder.

" MISS FROST IS HERE!" Josh shouted, running towards the unconscious telepath. "Oh my god!" She had a big line on her chest, sewed up. He touched her,  
and the line disappeared. She opened her eyes.

" F-foley? What..." she sat up and saw Julian sweeping a beast away, and Laura as she flipped over one of the creature's heads, a trail of blood flying  
behind her in an arc. The thing dropped Cessily to the ground, rearing up to attempt to grab the other thing hurting it.

"They aren't human minds," Frost said, the diamond starting at her pupils and spreading. "Elixir, continue to wake the others. I will help them."

**...**

"Be careful, children!" Emma shouted, wrapping her fingers around the snout of a creature. It bit, uselessly, at her other hand; she gave it a savage twist-a loud  
snap-and the creature fell to the floor, twitching.

" ARGH!" A spray of blood-a creature tore off a chunk of Julian's shoulder. Laura launched herself upwards and drove her claws into its open mouth, towards its brain.  
It bit down on her arm, and she made a noise of pain as it shook its head. Then it released the arm, heading for Laura's throat. Julian fell to his knees, and pulled the  
gun out of his belt. His hands shook as he rolled back the hammer again. _**BLAM.**_

It fell to the ground, and Laura stumbled back, her eyes wide-and their normal white. The blood had showered her face and washed away the last traces of trigger  
scent. She sniffed the air. _Snff._ "Julian! You..."

" There's two more!" Julian shouted, holding his shoulder.

Emma nodded. "Elixir, attend to Keller's wounds, please." She ran towards another creature as it advanced on Cessily. " Pathetic...picking on children..." she drove the  
long, diamond nails of her fingers into the beast's head. It let out a scream and turned on her.

"Dang, what the hell was that?" A woman at the back of the room was holding her head-white stripe, brown hair.

" Rogue-please be a dear and assist me," Emma said, gritting her teeth as the creature snapped its teeth on her arm.

"Ah'm on it." The woman jumped off the stretcher and hurried towards Emma. A few minutes later, the last of the creatures tumbled to the floor, at the same time as Julian  
finally got to his feet, fully healed.

" Well-" Emma started.

"HAHAHA!" the voice in the ceiling said again. " You really think that was all? Sorry to disappoint you-those were the old prototypes we didn't need anymore.  
Meet the new, improved Predator X!"

" Oh my lord-" Rogue stared in horror at the end of the hallway.

The same monsters-covered in metal. And many, many more of them. Eight, this time.

"Elixir! Work faster!" Emma shouted. " Get the children out of here, Hellion!"

"Wish Magneto was here," Rogue commented, flexing her fingers as the creatures charged down the corridor, slobbering. "Ah think you should get the squishie  
kids out first. Leave the big rock-thing."

" SANTO!" Julian shouted, seeing his friend sit up at the end.

"Jesus!" Santo yelled as one of the predators lunged for him. He lobbed it aside with a stony fist. "Why would anyone want to metal-coat hellhounds?!"

"I'm so glad to see you, you big pile of rocks," Julian said.

"GUYS!" Cessily shouted. " This isn't right! I can feel these things...it's my mercury!" she said. She was kneeling beside one that Emma had just disabled, her fingers  
near its face. Drops of the metal floated up to meld into her skin.

"..." Laura whirled to her. "Cessily! In the hallway...when Kimura used the trigger scent! Did she take a sample?"

" Oh my god-" Cessily gasped.

"Shit," Julian said, still working on pushing the younger children into the hallway.

"Agreed," Emma said. "We need the others. Hank. Santo-find them! I can sense their psionic signatures to the south."

" Can you just point?" Santo grumbled.

"Wait-" Josh held up his hand. "If this metal is Cessily's-then it's organic."

"..." Emma turned her clear eyes on him. " Elixir, go to work. Hellion, immobilize them...the rest of us will attempt to distract them, one by one."

**...**

" Anyone else hurt?" Josh asked, healing Julian for the third time that evening. They were surrounded by the twelve dead, muscular bodies of the predators,  
Cessily having reclaimed the metal from the corpses.

"Only my pride," Santo grunted. "I can't believe I got taken down by a girl a third of my size!"

Julian rolled his eyes.

Emma placed her hand on Laura's shoulder as she watched him from across the room. "X-23. What was that about the trigger scent, in the hallway?"

Laura looked down, suddenly remembering Emma's words to her from before.

"You were right," she said, her voice low.

Emma's eyes were cold, even though she was no longer in her diamond form.

Julian was approaching. "Laura, you okay?" he asked.

" I am fine," she said. Emma turned away.

" Come, children. And Rogue. We must find our missing companions."

_We will speak later_, she told Laura mentally.

**...**

"Thank you, my dear."

Laura had just liberated Dr. McCoy from a large gurney complete with restraints, gags, and multiple intravenous connections-with a swipe of her claws. He sat up,  
brushing his fur off as if it was a business suit covered in lint.

"Good to see you in one piece, Hank," Emma said, picking up a clipboard and examining it. A pair of Gucci shoes could be seen on a pair of feet behind the stretcher,  
where the attendant observing the captive had fallen. "It looks like they had some rather interesting plans for your brain...something about separating it from your body."

"Heavens," Dr. McCoy said. He reached down and plucked a pair of glasses-his glasses-from the horizontal man's pocket. "I'd have been terribly upset if the  
buffoon had damaged these," he added. "They are custom-designed for minimal snout slippage. It's getting harder and harder to find a pair that will  
accommodate my unique needs these days." He paused. "I smell urine."

The two teachers looked across the room, and saw Laura pointing her claws at the throat of the doctor that had been overseeing Beast's case.

"X-23, even though it would be a lovely case of ironic, poetic justice to perform the procedure on the doctor instead of the patient, we cannot let ourselves  
sink to such levels," Dr. McCoy said.

Laura glared at the man for a moment, then retracted her claws.

"The honor is all yours, Emma," Dr. McCoy said.

Emma stared at the man hard, and he began to convulse on the floor.

**...**

Midnight. Finally, all the students and teachers captured had been accounted for, and the militia in the complex completely neutralized.

The seats of the X-wing were flattened to fit the maximum amount of passengers, and it was decided that three trips to the mansion would be made to cart  
the students back, as the Blackbird (the main transport) was currently on its way back from Genosha, on board it Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and  
several of the other senior X-men.

Julian had tried to appeal to Ms. Frost that he could also perform transports, but she would not hear of it; he'd sat down in the corner of the jet  
(between Laura, Cessily and Sooraya), sulking.

"Stupid...doesn't care about...her students..." he grumbled, then he yawned. Suddenly the day's events were catching up with him-the desperation-the  
fear-killing someone-the horrors that followed. He could barely keep his eyes open, and blinked, hard.

Cessily traded a knowing glance with Sooraya. "So-where were you?!" she asked her friend and teammate. "I was sure you'd still be at the mansion  
or something, hiding behind a curtain!"

"They captured me with some sort of vacuum," Sooraya said.

"Hah! You got Hoover'ed!" Santo (who was sitting nearby) grinned.

About halfway through the trip, Julian leaned over, and his head came to rest on Laura's shoulder. She stiffened-she was unsure of what to do-but did not  
push him away. His regular breathing, combined with the mechanical hum of the X-wing, made her eyelids droop as well.

**...  
**

Laura approached his door nervously, the two shirts he'd given her neatly folded in her arms. She'd made up her mind-she was certain-it was the only way.  
She had to leave, for the sake of him and everyone else at this school-she had to keep them safe. Emma was right. She stopped, hesitated, turned away  
to go back, then spun around again and knocked on his door firmly, hearing motion inside (indicating his presence).

Scuffles within, fabric, then him walking to the door. He ripped it open. "Yeah-what d'you want-oh." Julian looked disheveled and tired, his hair sticking  
straight up. His face was flushed slightly. She looked at him for a moment, warily, then held out his shirts.

"Why are you giving them back?" he asked, frowning.

"I am finished with them," Laura said.

"Oh." He took the pile from her, tossed them to the bed behind, then reached for the hem of his shirt. Laura paused-she was supposed to say no,  
but-he'd pulled it off, and she didn't refuse the new garment.

She couldn't help it. _Snff.  
_

Julian swallowed.

Laura froze, then looked up at him. There was something different-his scent was the same, but there was something else as well-more like the one he'd  
had on the balcony, at the hotel. It wasn't unpleasant. It was quite the opposite. It was...her eyes caught something, and she reached out and touched  
a wet spot of something on his lower stomach.

"Uh-" he tensed up, obviously not wanting her to notice it. She knew what it was, however. Her sharp eyes slipped past him to the bed, and saw a  
hint of green satin amongst the covers.

"I-I gotta-uh-homework," Julian said, embarrassed. Then he realized it was eleven o' clock at night, and there were no homework assignments,  
for _any_ of his classes (and that Laura knew this).

He closed the door on her anyways, mortified.

Laura's eyebrows drew together in confusion. Why did he want to hide this so badly?

_Snff._


	10. an uncomfortable competition

* * *

 **Chapter 10 : an uncomfortable competition **

* * *

A week later:

"We should go see something tomorrow," Josh said from the couch, where he was stretched out on his back.

"See what?" Santo asked, jabbing at the controller with his thumb. It was Saturday morning, and he was playing a combat game in  
player versus player mode, against Julian. And winning.

"Fuck!" Julian said as his avatar died.

"I don't want to see that, dude! Reminds me of what I can't do anymore!" Santo.

"Pfft. Like you ever have." Julian.

"I can think of someone who's hoping to get some, though," Josh grinned.

Julian glared at him sharply. He'd been dropping hints all morning, skirting dangerously close to the fact that he knew about the Laura-thing;  
and if Santo found out, he'd never hear the end of it.

Santo hated Laura, with a passion.

"Go see a movie. Like normal kids," Josh added, picking up the original thought again. "There's a theatre on Main."

"I hear Hostel's out," Julian said.

"Dude, why would we want to go see a slasher film when we got the star in our school?" Santo said. "You know who I mean. X! God! I wish they'd kick  
her out of this place! She's the cause of the whole attack, y'know! She probably organized it! Remind me why we're letting her stay again?!"

Julian curled his lip at Santo. "Same reason we let Wither stay. Same reason we're letting you stay, you big freak."

Santo dropped his controller. "Did you just-are you _defending_ the creepazoid?"

Julian looked away, flushing slightly.

"HEY!" Santo pointed at him. "You're one of their evil clones, aren't you!"

"Hah," Josh said from the couch. "Who would clone him...I think one's enough."

"Imitation is the highest form of flattery," Julian said.

Josh pointed at Julian too. "You didn't know, Santo? Catch up with the times,

jeez. He's had a change of heart-he's all ooey gooey over the clone. Why don't you tell him what you bought?" Josh grinned at his friend.

Julian's eyes widened. "You wouldn't-"

"He bought rubbers," Josh said.

Silence.

"EWWWW!" Santo looked disgusted. "DUDE! That is Wolverine's CLONE! You...I...oh my GOD...I'd puke if I could! WRONG WRONG WRONG!"

"She's not-"

"Hairy? Smelly? Old? Doesn't smoke like a chimney? What's you're excuse?"

Josh asked. Santo stared at the target.

"I hate both of you!" Julian snarled.

"I can't believe you! You're such a sell-out!" Santo shouted. "You know I hate her! She makes all the little hairs on my body stand up and  
I don't have any!"

"Santo-" Julian.

"I have nothing more to say to you!" Santo snapped, getting up. He stomped out of the rec room, mumbling to himself.

"Thanks. Thanks a lot," Julian hissed at Josh, standing up himself. "What the hell was that for?"

"You've got some 'laundry' you need to 'air'," Josh said, raising his eyebrows.

"..." Julian stared at him. "What are you talking about? Did Cess-"

"I have my own ears," Josh replied.

"Grr! Listen, I'm not seeing her, I told you. She's too weird to be anyone's girlfriend. I-"

Josh sat up. "Yeah, you keep saying that. So either take a crap or get off the throne, man. I have my own opinions on her."

Julian's eyes narrowed. "Well..." he had nothing.

The two boys glared at each other for a while. Then Julian left the room.

**...**

Julian was becoming annoyed. And was going insane. He couldn't figure out what his feelings about the whole Laura subject were-did she repulse or attract him?  
Whatever reaction he was feeling was very strong, like the rule of positive and negative attraction forces.

For a while, he'd been able to stave it off, clearing his mind to concentrate on homework and other more important enterprises, but now even that was becoming  
impossible. He'd been right; that tiny slip-up, the kiss, was going to unravel his sanity. It had been the whole reason he'd tried to resist it in the first place-now he  
craved more. He went to sleep wanting it, he dreamed of satisfying the urge, and he woke up wanting it, in an endless cycle.

He'd thought (perhaps) that he'd be able to take care of this himself, having her corset in his room, but he had been wrong. While it smelled like Laura, it wasn't  
enough; he lacked whatever mystical sensory powers she had that allowed her to be satisfied with an article of clothing.

Julian was quite acutely aware that Laura was experiencing the same thing towards him. While he lacked the aforementioned sensory powers, he still had instincts,  
and they pretty much screamed in his ear every time he saw her nose move. It was driving him quite insane.

And now there was outside pressure on the situation.

He finally came to the conclusion (at three AM, after another failed attempt to shut his mind down, and memories of Cessily's earlier advice to him), that he wasn't  
sure what would make him happy-but at this point, he did know that Josh dating Laura certainly would not.

**...  
**

Footsteps. Laura inhaled and walked faster; she was on her way to her room, to pull out her bag again, and force herself to pack, regardless of the fresh t-shirt  
on her bed, with the added, delicious scent.

"Laura..."

She closed her eyes and stopped. Turned. She couldn't ignore a direct address; he knew she could hear.

"Yes?" she tilted her head.

Julian cleared his throat. "I...uh..." his voice was soft, uncertain. He finally cleared his throat. "A bunch of us are going to see a movie...and...I, uh, wondered if  
you wanted to come with me. I mean, us."

Laura looked down. This wasn't helping-dangling temptations under her nose. She felt some sort of inner thrill at the thought of spending more time with him-after  
that night, a week ago-and after the balcony. "Julian-"

"Cessily will be there," he said quickly, in his normal voice. "So will Sooraya. And Josh. So it's not like a date. Don't make a big deal out of this. Just-you know-friends."

Laura paused. "Okay," she said.

** ...**

Emma watched from the window, her lips pursed, as a group of her students left the mansion and walked down the driveway, towards the road, with X-23. She

had been distracted-she was on the phone, in a very important conference call.

Unfortunately, it wasn't curfew yet-she couldn't really send anyone after them without explaining-and that would alert Scott.

She closed her eyes. "Uh huh. Uh huh. No, 30.9% is not acceptable at all. Fix this...or heads are going to roll." Emma arched her eyebrows and tapped a nail on her desk;  
she'd just decided that she was going to take care of this problem for once and for all, in the morning.

Let them have their fun for one evening.

**...**

There was a lot going on as they headed towards the theatre. Cessily was keeping the conversation flowing with Sooraya. Julian kept glancing at Laura-and  
occasionally glaring at Josh-and vice versa. Meanwhile Laura trailed at the back, trying to make up her mind, and occasionally watching the interplay between  
the two boys, frowning. Weren't they friends? They seemed so angry.

Laura was also anticipating the movie. She liked movies-she liked popcorn, and soda, and watching violence on the large screen without being involved. She'd  
gone to many of them while with her cousin in San Francisco, some of her more pleasant memories.

She followed the other teens down the street, returning smiles given to her by some of the younger (and not-so-young) men that passed her. She was used to  
attention by now (especially after her previous employment, as a nightwalker). While she understood the connection between attraction and sex, she did not  
understand how or why women occasionally played games with men; this was because Laura was open and honest, naïve to the emotional sides of attraction.

They reached the theatre, and, entering the lobby, saw six large billboards advertising films playing. Laura inhaled, and smiled slightly. A little of her earlier  
apprehension eased away; at this moment, she was glad she had come, if only to smell this, Julian, amongst popcorn. It was quite satisfying.

"Ohmigod! Marie Antoinette is on!" Cessily said, excited.

"No way. I want to see Spider Man 3," Josh said.

"Hostel," Julian said firmly.

"I don't want to see a slasher movie!" Cessily protested. "Laura? Sooraya? You wanna see Marie Antoinette with me?"

"I will go with you," Sooraya said.

Julian was annoyed. "We're watching a movie together," he said.

"Weird, coz I'm watching Spiderman, and you're watching Hostel," Josh grinned. "Laura-you should come with me. It'll be awesome, the special effects are the best ever.  
The first two were great."

"..." Julian folded his arms. "Your pick, Laura."

Laura looked at the two boys, and sensed something was going on-something more than a choice between movies. She was impartial, as far as the films were  
concerned-any movie was good to her.

"I will go with Cessily and Sooraya," she said.

"But-you're not all girly girl!" Julian protested. "You'll hate it."

"Don't tell her what she can or can't like!" Josh snapped.

Cessily and Sooraya traded glances.

"I know her better," Julian said firmly.

"I will go with Cessily and Sooraya," Laura repeated.

"This is stupid, guys. We're here as a group...three of us want to see the same movie...just come with us," Cessily said, her voice tired.

The boys glared at each other. "Fine," they said at the same time.

** ...**

After a small argument over who would pay for Laura (and the girls, after an outraged protest from Cessily about being excluded) that ended with everyone paying for  
themselves, they headed upstairs, towards the concession area.

"Do you want anything?" Julian asked Laura, seeing Josh about to open his mouth. He'd be damned if the golden boy was going to beat him to being considerate.

"Popcorn," Laura said decisively.

"Twizzlers," Cessily said, even though nobody had asked her.

Julian and Cessily went to the stand to get the food, while the other three teens leaned against the condiments counter.

Josh sidled up to Laura. "Why are you wasting your time on a sleezeball like Keller, anyway?" he asked.

Laura frowned. "Sleezeball?"

"Idiot. Egocentric. Self-centered. Whatever you want to call it," Josh grinned.

Sooraya watched them warily. "He's a good friend, but..."

"I do not think Julian is an idiot," Laura said, frowning.

Josh was about to respond but the two returned, carrying the purchases.

"Here you go," Julian said, handing her a large bag of popcorn. "I only had money for one, so we have to share."

This ensured they would sit together.

"Thank you," Laura said, oblivious.

Josh shot him a sharp glance, Julian grinned.

"That's fighting dirty," he hissed after his friend as the group headed towards theatre 6.

**...**

Julian was bored out of his mind, leaning back and watching what seemed like an endless movie about dresses; the only good thing was that Laura had sat  
beside Cessily-and he'd grabbed the next seat, on the aisle corner, leaving Josh to sit with Sooraya, out of range.

Cessily kept whispering about how pretty things were-she'd been shushed several times-and Sooraya seemed to like the fabrics as well. Laura withheld comment,  
her neck craned to see the screen. Julian found himself watching her, and patting himself on the back for the popcorn move. It was awkward at the same time-he  
didn't feel comfortable about being so close to Laura-and yet-he didn't think he could've stood to see Josh with her.

Watching the screen, he reached for the bag-and got a handful of something distinctly different. Laura turned her head and stared at him; he let go, embarrassed.  
Although it wasn't really his fault. They were right there...and she wore such low cut tops...and they were really firm...he straightened in his seat and watched the  
screen, cursing himself.

**...**

"That was fun!" Cessily said, excited. "That shoe scene was awesome. I wish I had a collection like that! But I have to wear X-boots all the time, ugh."

Sooraya didn't comment. In her country, simple sandals were the standard, and she believed in modesty. But the costumes had been interesting to watch.

"I want ice cream!" Cessily announced.

"You can't eat," Julian grumbled.

"I still want it," she said. "Being inhuman doesn't mean I don't want things. I'd settle for watching everyone else eat it."

Laura smiled slightly in the background. She'd thought it odd, too, that the girl continued to purchase foods, until she'd finally asked. Cessily had explained that  
it made her feel less different; apparently she had been human once-a cheerleader-and she missed it.

"You're so weird, Cess," Julian said.

"I wouldn't mind some," Josh agreed. "Maybe you need to loose a few pounds, but I could replace a few of the calories I burned constantly healing you last week."

"Shut up," Julian said sharply. "Or did you forget about what I was doing when I got hurt? That's right...saving your ass."

" Guys-please stop fighting," Cessily said in desperation. "I'm already upset that Santo didn't want to come without you making things more uncomfortable.  
Why are you being such pains?"

" I'm not, he is," Josh said.

Julian folded his arms. "Fine-we'll both stop," he said. "I'm getting tired of it anyway. Let's get something to eat and go home."**  
**

**...**

Sunday morning. Late.

_X-23, please see me_, Emma said telepathically, waking the girl from where she'd fallen asleep, on the bed, with her bag half-packed beside her. She hadn't understood  
the tension amongst the children last night, but she'd come to feel that she had caused it somehow-and it was just another reason to go.

She rubbed her eyes, then got off the bed and headed to the headmistress's office.


	11. things that can't be undone

**A/N: **X-D thanks for the great reviews.

* * *

 **Chapter 11 : things that can't be undone **

* * *

"X-23. I think you know why I have called you here."

Emma sat at her desk, Laura stood by the door, her back ramrod straight.

" Please close the door."

Laura pushed on the heavy oak panel; it clicked shut. So final.

Silence.

"You will leave the school," Emma said, her eyes icy. Like diamond. "Do you understand? I will not permit you to put the students in any more danger."

Laura blinked. "I..."

" My students have died, before," Emma said fiercely. "Died, because I did not take enough measures to protect them. Every death weighs on my soul. I  
am responsible." She paused. "If you care for the children...if you care for Julian...you will understand. You will leave, regardless."

Laura bowed her head. "Yes."

She turned and opened the door; Emma got up, and followed her.

**...**

"Laura?"

Julian paused at the slightly open door and peered into the empty room. He frowned, wondering where she could have gone-he'd made up his mind to talk to  
her, find out where they stood. Last night had irritated him, and he didn't want it to happen again.

He pushed the door open farther, thinking he would wait for her in the chair. This had to be said now. His eye caught her bed, still made, with a bag sitting on it.

Frowning, he moved towards it, and peered in. Half of her belongings had been placed inside, neatly rolled up. He poked through her corsets, wondering how she  
could have so little in the world. Then it struck him-why were her belongings in a bag?

_She can't leave,_ he thought. He noticed the corner of a book sticking out from under the tops he'd moved, and he reached in and took it out. It was a child's  
book--'_The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi_'. It was sky blue with odd red splats all over it. Decorations? He held it up for inspection. No, blood. What  
a weird thing to have--she was his age.

He opened it; there was a packet of yellowed papers inside. Handwritten letters in neat, cursive handwriting. He riffled through them, not even thinking about  
how he was violating her privacy; there seemed to be two sets. One was absolutely soaked in blood-something very terrible must have happened. The other  
was clean, wrinkled, spotted in places like it had been wet once, but still legible.

Crinkle, the paper in his hands as he began to read.

_Please forgive me. Even as I write the words, they ring so hollow. My mistakes...no, my CHOICES...they cannot be undone, much less forgiven. All I can do  
now is tell you what happened. How all this came to pass...and the truth about Weapon X._

He frowned.

_Had it ended there, would I be less of a monster? Or more? Would I even know the difference? Of course I don't have to tell you about monsters. Your life is  
defined by monsters. " Unlimited resources and no political or legal restraints on your work. That's what we have to offer, Dr. Kinney..." I was told. The sample  
provided was damaged. Replicating the mutant genome proved difficult...but rebuilding weapon x seemed all but impossible. For every enzyme, for every codon,  
for every sequence we repaired, or even built back from near nothingness, we seemed to be missing a million more._

_But I felt alive. The work, the failure, the challenge. It was like a brilliant light, shining inside me. I felt...like my life had a purpose. What a fool I was._

The Y chromosome could not be duplicated.  


_I was defiant in the face of my failures. I was determined to succeed out of spite. Weeks passed. I worked on two projects, living two lives. I was used to that.  
I had kept secrets before. It seems so incredible to me now, that in all that time, given everything that I knew...what I was doing and what the end result would  
bear...I didn't give it a second thought._

I told myself that you weren't real.

_I told myself that this was science...not life. I was creating a weapon...not a child. I was wrong._

_When I was little, I always believed that everything that happened to me-I deserved. That we ALL get deserve. Maybe I was right. The project--you--was to be  
terminated, because a candidate to surrogate could not be found. No longer the experimenter, I was now part of the experiment. A vessel to be poked and  
prodded. To be violated. They certainly didn't care about me...not with a weapon to train. A team of physicians, psychologists, nutritionists and military  
strategists now ran my life. They watched my every move...but they didn't see everything. I ASKED you for forgiveness before. Now I'm TELLING you...don't  
forgive me. Don't forgive ANY of us for what we did. Ever._

_I remember everything...everything we did to you...and you deserve to know why we did these things. Your training was designed to strip you of your  
humanity. After all, in the eyes of the Program, you weren't human...you were a weapon. A weapon I willingly conceived for them._

_I made Kimura, too. The horrible woman who would torment you, for a lifetime. Who would punish you for things you for wrongs you had not committed.  
I made her before you were ever born, not knowing the connection. It doesn't make me any more innocent._

_I should have known._

_Our orders were to keep you from gaining any sense of self...something they said would compromise our ability to control you. We were never to treat you as a  
child, only as a weapon...but not everyone followed those orders....I'm grateful for that. They did not escape punishment, however. Sutter wanted to complete  
your construction...but that wasn't possible while your healing factor was dormant. You would never survive the surgery...so Rice was given permission to take  
whatever steps necessary to activate your X-gene._

_He chose radiation poisoning. You nearly died, that day._

_Unfortunately, Rice was right. The radiation worked. Now nothing stood in their way...especially me._

_I only found out later what happened...that your claws were extracted one by one...that he sharpened, then coated them with the indestructible metal, adamantium,  
outside of your body. Without anesthetic. It was never supposed to be like that. So much wasn't. I should have known what was coming...not that I could have prevented  
it...but I would have tried. The next stage of your training had begun. The trigger scent. They took advantage of your mutant powers-they tortured you, physically and  
mentally, in presence of the scent, until a drop would make you kill anything in sight. No matter who it was._

I'm sorry...so sorry...for what was done. They made you kill the only person that ever treated you like a child. A student. They smiled as they watched. A child--a seven  
year old child--forced to kill--and kill--and the sick bastards watched, enjoying it. Perverted. And I watched too.

_When it was time for your first field test...the target was chosen with a flip of a coin. Who it was didn't matter. As long as the target was " high profile"...and couldn't be  
gotten to. Sutter needed to make a statement. And you delivered it to the world. Twenty-two minutes. Twenty-two minutes to kill twenty-seven innocent people, twelve  
women, and two boys, ages thirteen and fifteen._

_I wanted to understand why we were doing this. I told Martin I needed to understand...why you had to publicly kill an innocent man, his family and so many others. So,  
he told me...he said, it's simple. You can't sell anything...without advertising._

_That's what this was all about. The buying and selling of lives for profit. Not saving the world, or taking it over. No, this was about money. A lot of it. Martin sold you for a  
million dollars a pound...and as you know by now, there was no shortage of buyers._

_Rice was right. I didn't matter. Not to them. Not to you. Not to anyone. All I could do was watch. While you were forced to kill...and kill...and kill...and kill..._

_You killed royalty. Godfathers. Drug lords. Dictators. Anyone... everyone...for a price. For three long years, you murdered without fail. Every target they marked, you  
killed. Every time limit they set, you beat. Every rendezvous point they plotted, you reached...except one. The one where Rice was waiting for you._

_When Rice came back from the mission, he told us what happened. He said...that you didn't make the rendezvous in time. That he had to abort the mission when the  
team started taking fire. And that he saw you die. But I didn't want to believe him._

_You never told me what happened. How you survived. How you made your way back. Why didn't you tell me? Maybe you blamed me. I hope you did._

I hope you never blamed yourself.

_For so long, I held myself above Sutter and Rice. They made you a killer. They were the ones using you. But all it took was one phone call to open my eyes and see...I was  
just like them. I used you. I used you, to save my niece, your cousin. By killing. You had no choice._

_They say in life that we are judged by the choices we make...they are what define us._

_I chose to bring you into this world. I chose to stay in the program even after they stripped you of your humanity...and molded you into a weapon. I'm responsible for  
everything that has happened...for all the pain...for all the death...for everything you've suffered. Because I had a choice...when you had none. And I chose to do nothing._

_I always assumed it was Rice that cut you. He hurt you so many times in the past...he almost killed you twice...I never wanted to believe...that it was you._

_The damage I've done...I can never forgive myself._

_You couldn't stop what Rice made you do...made you murder Sutter's family...but somehow you managed to save Henry and to tell me the truth. We means there is  
hope...you showed me we failed. You are not a weapon. You are a child, still. I don't know how part of you survived, but I am grateful. I cannot find words to  
describe how grateful I am that not all of you is dead._

_Always remember you are not to blame. You did not pick this life. We...I forced it upon you. Raped your mind. The blood you have spilled is on my hands, not yours. And  
please understand why I must ask you to kill one last time. Because tonight, what you do is right. Tonight, what you serve is justice. Tonight, you take back the life we  
stole from you. I give you Rice's life, in trade for your own._

_I never wanted a family. My father stripped me of that desire. He took my childhood...my innocence...my life...and then I took yours. I became what I hated and  
feared most...and then you became my victim. But then you showed me hope. Not when you saved my niece, Megan, but when you saved Henry. You showed me  
that we can choose to be something other than what we have been forced to be...that we can be something better than what we believe we are.  
_

_And in that moment, you saved my life. All that matters to me now is that I save yours. I wish we could just run away without any more bloodshed...but if we  
don't stop them, they will never stop. The will do it all over again. They've already started. After tonight, we'll just keep moving and never look back. We'll start  
a new life...have a future...be a family._

_I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you these things. There is so much more that I want to tell you, and I will...but one thing you must always remember...no matter what  
has happened...and no matter what may come..._

_You are a child. Not a weapon. You are my daughter...and I love you. My Laura, not X-23. Never X-23 again._

_Your mother,_

_Sarah_

Julian stared at the paper. A motion caught his eye, and he looked up just in time to see Laura stomping towards him, furious. She snatched the packet from his  
fingers, and he offered no resistance, still dumbfounded.

"This is mine!" she shouted. He'd never seen Laura angry. Even when she killed. She was always perfectly emotionless, perfectly controlled. Now he knew why.

" You had no right! You..." she folded the papers. "Now you know why I am leaving."

" Laura-" he froze. Emma was at the door.

" She is leaving," she said coldly. "You will offer no resistance."

"But-" Julian held out his hand. "Laura, you can't-"

The girl paused, her bag now on her shoulder. She'd stuffed the remaining possessions in, and the book with the letter.

"I...you are a good friend, Julian. Your friends are lucky. Goodbye." She turned away.

" LAURA!" Julian leapt to his feet and caught her sleeve, his eyes welling up slightly, despite himself. He knew now...he didn't want her to go. Quite desperately.

" Sleep," Emma said. His eyes rolled up and he toppled to the floor.

**...**

Julian stared at the book in front of him, not really seeing it. He kept wanting to glance back, but he knew Laura wouldn't be there. Just another empty seat, and  
this one bothered him the most of all the empty seats in the class--more than Sofia's, even.

Much more, to be honest with himself.

He couldn't concentrate on anything...this was perhaps the most painful, distracting event that had happened to him lately. He didn't understand it.

**...**

" JULIAN!" Cessily ran after him in the hall and caught his sleeve. "Why are you walking off all on your lonesome? You look like hell!"

He looked down. "I don't want to talk about it, Cess." He pulled away; she stood, staring after him, shell-shocked. Julian never brushed her off without saying something--  
even when he'd been upset about Sofia.

Santo came up behind her. "Don't take it personal, Cess. His fanclub went packing. He's feeling the freedom now...hey, maybe we should take up the call of duty, eh?" he grinned.

" Wha-Laura LEFT?" Cessily gasped. " Oh no! Why would she leave?"

" Beasts me," Santo said. "Personally...I'm glad. She had my pebbles crawlin' uphill, that one did. She was like them Predator X things."

" Shut up, Santo," Cessily said angrily. "I liked Laura. And Julian-I think he really, really liked Laura. Poor him...first Sofia, now this..."

**...**

"Julian," Sooraya said in surprise, opening her door to see the ex-leader of her previous squad. "Can I help you?"

"No..." he flushed. "This is going to sound weird-can I come sit on her bed for a while? I think I need to talk to someone who spent time with her..."

Sooraya raised an eyebrow, then opened the door all the way. She knew he meant Laura. It had been a week now.

**...**

" KELLER!"

Julian's head whipped around. He was on the back porch, staring out across the property-and saw that Logan-Wolverine-had just emerged from the main building. He was  
stomping towards him. He didn't look all that pleased.

" Where the _hell_ is Laura?" he asked him, his eyes flashing.

Julian looked down.

" She--she left," he said, his voice still a bit choked. "A month ago."

Logan's claws popped. _Snikt_. Such a familiar sound, only heavier, from the third claw. "I'm gonna _kill_ you!" he shouted. "I told you all not to give her trouble! She's not  
here now to stop me, and I'm going to kill you, punk!"

"I didn't want her to leave! I-"Julian said angrily.

Logan sniffed the air. _Snff. _"You've been crying," he observed.

" No I haven't," Julian said, reddening. "I don't cry."

" The hell you don't," Logan said. He put his hands in the pockets of his jackets, fishing for his cigarettes. "So you fell for my clone, huh? That's pretty creepy, even for me."

"..." Julian folded his arms. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, his lip curling. " I didn't fall for Laura."

"That's why you're out on the porch, sniffling, when absolutely no other shit has hit the fan lately," Logan said. "Yup. Makes perfect sense to me." He pulled out a stick and  
stuck it in his mouth, then flicked the lighter on the end. "I'm so fucking pissed off. I leave for a bit--to track down one kid in Japan--and my other one goes on the fritz.  
Can't you people do _anything_ right?"

"I tried to stop her," Julian said, looking across the property again. "She just didn't listen. She's stubborn." He wasn't sure what had happened with Ms. Frost, so he didn't  
mention anything.

" Heh," Logan said. "Well--what're _you_ gonna do about it? Laura's made up her mind, she's made up her mind. You'll get over it."

" I guess."

**...**

Laura tilted the sniper rifle, adjusting it slightly to focus on her target, a head with a comb-over. The head of a man seated at a café on the street corner; she was on  
top of a two story building, kneeling at the edge.

_Keep in touch,_ Kingpin had said. She'd done just that--she was safer in a world where she didn't care who she killed, ready for the next shoe to drop. She hadn't allowed  
herself to think about anything but work--she had been very disciplined, and three months had passed.

The only hard times were nights, when her body was tired, but her mind was not. She'd put the shirt back in her bag after the first week, knowing it was better not to  
reinforce this impulse. Neural pathways in the brain only grew stronger with each repetition of the stimulus.

It hadn't helped--really--but she was okay. There was always somebody that needed to die--according to Fisk--and thus there was always plenty of work. She'd begun  
to amass quite a good amount of money--her small fortune of one hundred forty-seven thousand six hundred and ninety-two dollars had doubled, tripled, and then grown  
close to nine hundred thousand dollars. She didn't know what to do with it, so she kept it in the duffle bag--in the main compartment, with Julian's shirt on the end pocket  
to keep the scents separate (although she didn't know why she was saving it).

**...**

_Ring. Ring._

Laura was sitting on the dock at the harbor, looking out across the water again. In the exact same spot. Except he wasn't there now--she could almost still feel his arm  
around her shoulders, but it had been five months now.

She pulled the cellphone out of her pocket and flipped it open. Logan's number--not the other one.

" Laura. Hi. Hello. Say something." Logan. He'd called before, but she hadn't answered-she stared across the water.

"I am not coming back," she said. "I am...content with my life. Here."

"No way for a girl to live!" Logan's voice answered angrily. "Laura, you can't run every time you feel something, or have a problem."

Laura sniffed. "I nearly killed them, Logan. The students. My 'friends'. They are safer without me there."

"I know someone who really, really misses you," Logan said. "Someone you're probably missing, too. And I miss you. Just come back, squirt...it's my fault this all  
happened--I wasn't here. I'm not going to leave again, okay?"

Laura sighed. "Logan--not everyone misses me."

Silence.

"_Who_?" he asked sternly. "Who's been tellin' you to stay away, Laura?"

"Emma Frost."

Silence.

"I'm going to _fuckin' kill Summers_. I am _going _to fucking _kill him_. His two-bit _whore_ of a girlfriend--who was evil herself just a _bit_ ago--has the balls to tell you to leave?  
I think the silicon went to her brains!"

Laura smiled, a little. "She is correct, Logan. The school is safer without me."

"But it's not better! If you don't come back on your own-I'm gonna come after you. I'll make you come back."

" You can't," Laura said. They both knew this was true; Laura was faster than her original, and could defeat him in battle, although it was hard.

" What can I say to make you give it another try?"

" Nothing. Goodbye, Logan." Laura flung the cellphone across the water; it skipped, then sunk, and she closed her eyes.

The last tie with another old life.


	12. all the monsters

**A/N: **Hmm. Originally I was going to end Snff here...but all the reviews its getting, plus bits of ideas, are making me think of making a sequel. What d'yall think? Want more?

**PS: **Sappy alert. That's just for you stray ;-)

* * *

** Chapter 12 : all the monsters **

* * *

Julian froze, staring at the open front door. It was three AM, and it was raining cats and dogs outside, and he was just going upstairs after drinking  
milk straight from the carton in the kitchen, hoping he could get more sleep. He only got one to two hours sleep during each go, before a nightmare  
woke him up.

There was a girl dripping on the mat, a duffle bag on her shoulder, her hair dripping. Green eyes. She tilted her head and smiled slightly, feeling the  
familiar thrill run down her spine. "Hi."

" H-hi," he said, though it hardly seemed sufficient. It had been a year since she'd left. He didn't know what he was supposed to do.

"Is Logan still here?" she asked, unzipping her jacket. Julian continued to stare at her, like a deer caught in the head lights. "Uh-huh," he said, his  
voice strained.

Laura studied him. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Um," he cleared his throat. "You-you were gone a long time. A really long time." He rubbed his neck, something he hadn't done in ages, because the  
prickles didn't run up it when Laura wasn't there. It had only occurred to him at the sixth month mark-that the prickles didn't happen when he was  
scared. It was something else entirely, that he'd misinterpreted completely.

"Yes...yes I was." Laura looked around. "I should go upstairs."

She closed the door and stepped up. She was on the same level as he was now-she stepped up, one step, another step-she was at the top, her back  
turned to him again.

" Laura-" he ran up the stairs. He couldn't let it happen again-he'd spent a year figuring things out. He couldn't make the same mistake twice--for the  
third time, perhaps, counting Sofia.

He'd even looked for her-but he didn't know where to find her. He'd even stood in Kingpin's office, alone, asking the terrifying older man to tell him  
where Laura was. He'd laughed and told him to leave. Julian hadn't known that she was working for Fisk again, who didn't want her to be tempted  
away from his employment again.

Everyone had a motive for Laura.

"Yes?" she asked, pausing in the hallway. In front of her old room-Sooraya's room now, with Cessily. He put his hand on her back, pushed her towards  
the end of the hallway, to the door in the corner.

"Julian?"

He fought with the doorknob. It finally worked-the door opened-and he motioned her in and closed it firmly behind them. "I've got a few things to tell  
you," he said. It was a little hard to speak. She was looking at him like he was crazy, and rightfully so. He was crazy. He put his hands on the sides  
of her jaws and pulled her into him, as close as he could.

" _Mmph!_" Laura made a noise of surprise, and her bag dropped to the floor with a thump. He slid his hands down her body and around her, not caring  
that her clothing was soaking wet with rain, and cold. He pulled away suddenly. He had to get this out now. ""Your letter...I don't understand how  
anyone could have gone through those things, ever. You're incredible. I-I love you," he said, a little more forcefully than he'd intended.

"I fucking love you and if you ever leave me again I will...well, I don't know but it would suck so bad." He paused.

Laura breathed through her mouth, looking down. Then..._snff_.

" In the bed, now," Julian ordered, pushing her backwards until she met the edge of the mattress and tipped over. "You're mine. I will fuck anyone up  
who tries to change that. Understand?"

"Yes," Laura said. He crawled over her and buried his face in her neck, inhaling.

_Snff._

**...**

" Julian?"

He opened his eyes sleepily. The box from the corner-store was half gone, and he was exhausted. Absolutely exhausted. He thought he might pull  
another 30-hour sleep, like he had that time, a year and a half ago, when he'd flown for the first time at mach.

"Mmhmm?" He sniffed the nape of her neck and kissed it. He wondered if he was going to wake up soon, like he had in the past-but he'd already  
pinched himself a few times that night, and it had hurt. And other stuff hurt.

" What did you mean?" She turned her head and eyed him, on her back; he did the same. Her hair was all over his pillow; he twirled a lock around his  
finger with the hand behind his head. Her hair was curly when wet, and it had stayed curly as it dried, with his messing it up constantly.

" Hm?" he asked, raising his head slightly.

" Earlier. You said you 'love' me. I don't understand."

"..." Julian wrinkled his forehead. " Huh?" He thought he'd been pretty clear.

"Before...you told me there was two types. Of love. You told me that there are crushes...and there is real love...where you would die for the other  
person...some other attributes, as well. You did not specify which type."

" Oh, the second," Julian said sleepily. "Definitely the second." He kissed her cheek.

" Okay," Laura said. Her eyes slid shut. "Me, too."

He moved to conform to her side, and buried his face in her neck. _Snff._

**...**

Emma Frost, looking out her window with distant diamond eyes. She'd just had a phone call, and was thinking it over. Her sister had died.

Not a tear could be seen, because she didn't have tears in this form.

Her eyes narrowed on a strange motorcycle in the driveway. There was a visitor.

She shifted her flesh and closed her eyes-then they shot open.

_Mister Keller, to my office, now._

**...**

" Why did you bring her?" Emma asked coldly. Julian was standing in front of her, his arms folded, Laura behind him, an uncertain expression on her face.

" Anything you have to say to me can be said in front of her," he said. He was angry. Emma was angry. They'd disobeyed.

"X-23 is a weapon," Emma said. "I will _not_ have her at my school."

" Her name is Laura," Julian said.

" Mister Keller--"

"No! God, what is your problem?" Julian's voice was rising.

" I am protecting my students," Emma said, her tone firm. "Including yourself. You will understand later--perhaps you are too young now--"

"I've seen how you protect your students!" Julian snapped. "You screw up their lives, you hurt them, you call them weapons. You're like the people who  
made her--you're a monster. And you don't know the first thing about protecting children."

" You don't know what she is," Emma said acidly. "All it takes--one drop of trigger scent--and everyone's dead. She's a time bomb. You wouldn't  
even see it coming. I will not allow that." She looked over his shoulder. "Laura, get your things. Then leave. I will give you five minutes."

Julian turned to the girl. "Come on, Laura. We don't have to take this."

" Mister Keller--" Emma stood up. She hadn't meant that _he_ would leave.

" I have nothing more to say to you," he said, following Laura out. He grabbed the door handle behind himself and slammed it so hard that a  
painting on the wall beside it tilted.

**...**

" That's everything I want," Julian said, zipping up his bag. "Good thing I went with the laptop...PC would have been a bitch."

" Are you certain you want to do this?" Laura asked, frowning. "She's right, Julian. I am a weapon. I am not human. You are at risk in my presence. You  
will lose everything you know, all your friends, your teachers. You should not come."

" Laura-I'm not even talking about this," he said fiercely. "I already let you go once, and I realized I'd follow you into a burning pit, if I ever got  
the chance to be with you again. I'm pretty fucking certain." He swung his backpack on his shoulder. "Let's go say goodbye to Cess, at least."

Laura paused. She didn't want him to come--she was afraid for him. She knew, though, that she couldn't stay away...she'd already tried.

" Okay," Laura said.

**...**

"Julian?" Cessily asked, peering out of her door. "What--ohmigod!" She'd just spotted Laura over his shoulder. Then she realized they both had bags, and jackets on.

" You're leaving?" she asked.

Julian nodded. "I..."

" It's the right thing," she said immediately. He'd told her-told her about Ms. Frost, and she'd watched him, for a year. He'd been very, very  
miserable. "Just--just call me, okay? And you have my MSN--"

He pushed the door out of the way and hugged her. "I wish it didn't have to be like this."

Cessily frowned. "Let me know where you go," she said. " You should find Mr. Summers--and Mr. Logan. They're in California...San Francisco, I think.  
Something about a new branch of the school, or something."

Julian nodded.

"Well...bye," he said, holding up a hand. They watched each other for a moment, then he turned, and Laura followed him, waving at Cessily.

_**The end**_


End file.
